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

Mon Nov 8 11:03:43 UTC 2010

that would be my concern as this seems to provide the level of visiion that 
I have always had. Anything to support medical advances is worth pursuing 
though.
Chuck
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Heim" <john at johnheim.net>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2010 10:20 AM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Fw: Implanted chip 'allows blindpeopleto 
detectobjects'


>I doubt you could get brain damage from a device like this. But you could 
>probably lose what little vision you have if the device doesn't work for 
>some reason.
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
> To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2010 9:42 AM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Fw: Implanted chip 'allows blind peopleto 
> detectobjects'
>
>
>> This is very interesting.  Part of me likes the idea of interfacing 
>> directly with the visual center of the brain rather than using external 
>> nerve endings such as is
>> the case with devices that use the tongue or the back.  However, I also 
>> am a little uncertain of implanting a foreign object so close to the 
>> brain in terms of
>> infection or rejection.  I'd like to understand more about that aspect 
>> before I would jump on such an idea.  Of course, in my case, it probably 
>> wouldn't work
>> since my optic nerve is the problem.  <smile>
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Steve Jacobson
>>
>> On Thu, 4 Nov 2010 08:30:16 -0400, Jennifer Aberdeen wrote:
>>
>>>Thank God!
>>
>>>This is great news!
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>>>products!
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>>>----- 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 
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>>
>>
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