[nfb-talk] Fw: Implanted chip 'allows blindpeople to detectobjects'

louie louiemost at wavecable.com
Thu Nov 4 22:20:11 UTC 2010 

You all sure make my day.
Whatov 4, 2010, at 2:34 PM, Gloria Whipple wrote:

> What is wrong with being blind?
> 
> Where do you get off in accusing me of saying that you shouldn't have sight?
> If you want the chip, well,  go ahead and get it! I am not stopping you from
> wanting to see.
> 
> Quit twisting my words around.
> 
> 
> Gloria Whipple
> 
> cell number: 509-475-4993
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of John Heim
> Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2010 11:06 AM
> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Fw: Implanted chip 'allows blindpeople to
> detectobjects'
> 
> Hmmm... This amazes me.  First of all, just because you seem to enjoy being 
> blind, that doesn't mean the chip is "stupid". Lots of other people would 
> prefer to be able to see.  Its like saying its "stupid" to make paintings of
> 
> sunsets just because you don't like them. Well, lots of other people do.
> 
> I sure hope you're not suggesting its "stupid" for a blind person to want a 
> device that would give them sight. Because that would be stupid. If you 
> don't want to be able to see, that's fine with me. But don't you dare tell 
> me that I shouldn't want to be able to see.
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Gloria Whipple" <fairyfoot at webband.com>
> To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2010 11:32 AM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Fw: Implanted chip 'allows blindpeople to 
> detectobjects'
> 
> 
>> I think it is stupid.
>> 
>> Being blind doesn't stop me from doing things I like to do.
>> 
>> 
>> Gloria Whipple
>> 
>> cell number: 509-475-4993
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Ray Foret Jr
>> Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2010 9:15 AM
>> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Fw: Implanted chip 'allows blind people to
>> detectobjects'
>> 
>> Nope.  My brain's just fine like it is.
>> Honestly, if one adjusts to blindness, why would one want such a thing? 
>> IF
>> not well adjusted, then I suppose one might want such a thing.  but, what
>> with the programs we have in place, one would think such a chip 
>> undesirable.
>> 
>> 
>> Sincerely,
>> The Constantly Barefooted Ray!!!
>> 
>> Now A Very Proud and very happy Mac user!!!
>> 
>> Skype Name:
>> barefootedray
>> 
>> On Nov 4, 2010, at 10:35 AM, Gloria Whipple wrote:
>> 
>>> Have no desires for that.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Gloria Whipple
>>> 
>>> cell number: 509-475-4993
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>> Behalf Of Jennifer Aberdeen
>>> Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2010 5:30 AM
>>> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
>>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Fw: Implanted chip 'allows blind people to
>>> detectobjects'
>>> 
>>> Thank God!
>>> 
>>> This is great news!
>>> 
>> 
> ____________________________________________________________________________
>>> _______________________
>>> Shop my store for the latest and greatest in beauty and wellness 
>>> products!
>>> www.youravon.com/jaberdeen
>>> 
>>> Get paid to read email!
>>> http://www.sendearnings.com/?r=ref1487633
>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>> From: "Kenneth Chrane" <kenneth.chrane at verizon.net>
>>> To: <CSDB-ALUMNI at googlegroups.com>
>>> Cc: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2010 8:21 AM
>>> Subject: [nfb-talk] Fw: Implanted chip 'allows blind people to
>>> detectobjects'
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> What do you think about this Article?
>>>> Ken Chrane
>>>> 
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>>> From: Lela Behee
>>>> To: venetian-blind at googlegroups.com
>>>> Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2010 2:38 AM
>>>> Subject: Implanted chip 'allows blind people to detect objects'
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Though this may not be helpful for those of us who have prosthetic eyes
>>>> and so have no retina, what a very exciting leap forward this is in
>>>> technology!
>>>> Praise our Lord!!
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 2 November 2010 Last updated at 20:49 ET
>>>> Implanted chip 'allows blind people to detect objects'
>>>> By Neil Bowdler Science reporter, BBC News
>>>> 
>>>> Miikka Terho is given the task of reading letters which together 
>>>> misspell
>> 
>>>> his
>>>> own name
>>>> A man with an inherited form of blindness has been able to identify
>>>> letters and
>>>> a clock face using a pioneering implant, researchers say.
>>>> Miikka Terho, 46, from Finland, was fitted with an experimental chip
>>>> behind his
>>>> retina in Germany. Success was also reported in other patients.
>>>> 
>>>> The chip allows a patient to detect objects with their eyes, unlike a
>>>> rival
>>>> approach that uses an external camera.
>>>> 
>>>> Details of the work are in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society
>> B.
>>>> 
>>>> Professor Eberhart Zrenner, of Germany's University of Tuebingen, and
>>>> colleagues
>>>> at private company Retina Implant AG initially tested their sub-retinal
>>>> chip on
>>>> 11 people.
>>>> Some noticed no improvement as their condition was too advanced to
>> benefit
>>> 
>>>> from
>>>> the implant, but a majority were able to pick out bright objects, Prof
>>>> Zrenner
>>>> told the BBC.
>>>> 
>>>> However, it was only when the chip was placed further behind the retina,
>>>> in the
>>>> central macular area in three people, that they achieved the best
>> results.
>>>> 
>>>> Two of these had lost their vision because of the inherited condition
>>>> retinitis
>>>> pigmentosa, or RP, the other because of a related inherited condition
>>>> called
>>>> choroideraemia.
>>>> 
>>>> RP leads to the progressive degeneration of cells in the eye's retina,
>>>> resulting
>>>> in night blindness, tunnel vision and then usually permanent blindness.
>>>> The
>>>> symptoms can begin from early childhood.
>>>> 
>>>> The best results were achieved with Mr Terho, who was able to recognise
>>>> cutlery
>>>> and a mug on a table, a clock face and discern seven different shades of
>>>> grey.
>>>> He was also able to move around a room independently and approach 
>>>> people.
>>>> 
>>>> In further tests he read large letters set out before him, including his
>>>> name,
>>>> which had been deliberately misspelled. He soon noticed it had been 
>>>> spelt
>> 
>>>> in the
>>>> same way as the Finnish racing driver Mika Hakkinnen.
>>>> 
>>>> Three or four days after the implantation, when everything was healed, I
>>>> was
>>>> like wow, there's activity," he told the BBC from his home in Finland.
>>>> "Right after that, if my eye hit the light, then I was able to see
>>>> flashes, some
>>>> activity which I hadn't had.
>>>> 
>>>> "Then day after day when we started working with it, practising, then I
>>>> started
>>>> seeing better and better all the time."
>>>> 
>>>> Soon Mr Terho was able to read letters by training his mind to bring the
>>>> component lines that comprised the letters together.
>>>> 
>>>> The prototype implant has now been removed, but he has been promised an
>>>> upgraded
>>>> version soon. He says it can make a difference to his life.
>>>> 
>>>> "What I realised in those days was that it was such a great feeling to
>>>> focus on
>>>> something," he says.
>>>> 
>>>> "Even having a limited ability to see with the chip, it will be good for
>>>> orientation, either walking somewhere or being able to see that 
>>>> something
>> 
>>>> is
>>>> before you even if you don't see all the tiny details of the object."
>>>> 
>>>> Electrical impulses
>>>> The chip works by converting light that enters the eye into electrical
>>>> impulses
>>>> which are fed into the optic nerve behind the eye.
>>>> 
>>>> It is externally powered and in the initial study was connected to a
>> cable
>>> 
>>>> which
>>>> protruded from the skin behind the ear to connect with a battery.
>>>> 
>>>> The team are now testing an upgrade in which the device is all contained
>>>> beneath
>>>> the skin, with power delivered though the skin via an external device
>> that
>>> 
>>>> clips
>>>> behind the ear.
>>>> 
>>>> This is by no means the only approach being taken by scientists to try 
>>>> to
>>>> restore some visual ability to people with retinal dysfunction - what's
>>>> called
>>>> retinal dystrophy.
>>>> 
>>>> A rival chip by US-based Second Sight that sits on top of the retina has
>>>> already
>>>> been implanted in patients, but that technique requires the patient to 
>>>> be
>> 
>>>> fitted
>>>> with a camera fixed to a pair of glasses.
>>>> 
>>>> Charities gave the news of the latest work a cautious welcome.
>>>> 
>>>> David Head, of the British Retinitis Pigmentosa Society, said: "It's
>>>> really
>>>> fascinating work, but it doesn't restore vision. It rather gives people
>>>> signals
>>>> which help them to interpret."
>>>> 
>>>> Peoria Blind Center
>>>> www.peoriablindcenter.org
>>>> Here is the name of the group on facebook: PeoriArea Blind People's
>>>> Center.  Your friends on facebook are going to have to get on
>>>> their facebook account and search for the group's name to join, or to 
>>>> see
>> 
>>>> what we are about.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> -- 
>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google 
>>>> Groups
>> 
>>>> "venetian blind" group.
>>>> To post to this group, send email to venetian-blind at googlegroups.com.
>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>>>> venetian-blind+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
>>>> For more options, visit this group at
>>>> http://groups.google.com/group/venetian-blind?hl=en.
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>>>> 
>>> 
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louie
louiemost at wavecable.com

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