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JaneFairfax

Member

Registered: 2007-02-23

Posts: 6,868

Bionic eye gives blind man sight

[align=right]Wednesday 4 March 2009[/align]

[align=center]Bionic eye gives blind man sight[/align]

A man who lost his sight 30 years ago says he can now see flashes of light after being fitted with a bionic eye.

Ron, 73, had the experimental surgery seven months ago at London’s Moorfield’s eye hospital.

He says he can now follow white lines on the road, and even sort socks, using the bionic eye, known as Argus II.

    BBC News

Jai Ganesh

Administrator

Registered: 2005-06-28

Posts: 46,257

Re: Bionic eye gives blind man sight

Heartening news! Thanks for the News and the link, JaneFairfax!!!

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It appears to me that if one wants to make progress in mathematics, one should study the masters and not the pupils. - Niels Henrik Abel.

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JaneFairfax

Member

Registered: 2007-02-23

Posts: 6,868

Re: Bionic eye gives blind man sight

Any medical advance that gives people a better life is heartwarming.

MathsIsFun

Administrator

Registered: 2005-01-21

Posts: 7,711

Re: Bionic eye gives blind man sight

Awesome indeed.

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"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

Ricky

Moderator

Registered: 2005-12-04

Posts: 3,791

Re: Bionic eye gives blind man sight

In turn, the receiver passes on the data via a tiny cable to an array of electrodes which sit on the retina - the layer of specialised cells that normally respond to light found at the back of the eye.

When these electrodes are stimulated they send messages along the optic nerve to the brain, which is able to perceive patterns of light and dark spots corresponding to which electrodes have been stimulated.

It sounds like one might be able to restore full vision this way, with the proper technology.  Theoretically (aka me talking out of my butt), we should be able to just hook electrodes up to a brain and then train the brain to respond to these electrodes overtime.

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"In the real world, this would be a problem.  But in mathematics, we can just define a place where this problem doesn't exist.  So we'll go ahead and do that now..."

White_Wolf

Member

Registered: 2008-12-15

Posts: 133

Re: Bionic eye gives blind man sight

It is a miracal how technology can help save lives! Although I worry this may cost a lot of money to get one of these fitted when they become more high-tech.

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