bionic eye

Wednesday, 18 June , 2008, 12:39Hamburg:German scientists have invented a wireless bionic eyeball that canrestore visionto patients who have become blind due to retina damage or disease.The new prosthetic device caps 12 years of research to help thesepatients. Thiswork has resulted in a unique system - a fully implantable visualprosthesis. Thescientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuitsand Systemsin Duisburg, Germany, say that the bionic eye can bypass the damaged retina.For more news, analysisFor more Science and Medicine newsThe system comprises an implant and an external transmitterintegrated in an eyeglasses-frame.The implant system converts the image patterns into interpretablestimulation signals,and data and energy are transferred to the implant by a telemetriclink. Nerve cellsinside the eye are then stimulated according to the captured images.The intact cellsare innervated by means of 3-D stimulation electrodes that restagainst the retinalike small studs.As long as there is no damage to the optic nerve, the vision signalscan be sentto the brain just like they are with healthy eyes. "For normallysighted people thatmay not seem much, but for the blind, it is a major step," commentsHoc Khiem Trieuof the Fraunhofer Institute. "After years of blindness, the patientswere able tosee spots of light or geometric patterns, depending on how the nervecells were stimulated."Trieu has been involved from the outset of this project, which wasfunded by theGermany's Education and Research Ministry. Together with two otherscientists, IngoKrisch and DMichael Goertz, he translated the specifications given bythe medicalexperts and material scientists into an implant and chip design. "Amilestone wasreached when the prosthetic system finally operated wirelessly andremotely controlled,"explains Dr. Krisch."A great deal of detailed work was necessary before the implant couldbe activatedwithout any external cable connections. "The designs became smallerand smaller,the materials more flexible, more robust and higher in performance,so that the implantnow fits comfortably in the eye," reports Goertz.The scientists are to receive the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize 2008for their work.