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

T. Joseph Carter carter.tjoseph at gmail.com
Tue Nov 9 11:33:11 UTC 2010


Ray,

This is an interesting bit of technology, and of course it poses the 
classic question:  If you could have some magic medical technology 
advance "cure" you of blindness in some way, would you take it?  Many 
or even most Federationists would probably answer out of hand, "No I 
wouldn't!"  And many of us who answered that way would even mean it, 
if ever it came to pass.

I respond to your message, Ray, because I know you understand the 
words, "This too shall pass," in the same spiritual context that I 
do.  Life is full of bad things; it is full of good things.  We know 
things balance in the fullness of time, et cetera.  But in the here 
and now, we often mis-attribute the bad to the most likely cause.

That leads interesting places.

For a person who had vision and lost it, it's no great leap what that 
attribution would be.  Even one who has accepted blindness as just 
part of life and all of the other things will attribute things that 
should be different to blindness, rightly or wrongly.  The question 
is not whether we do it, but how we respond to it.

I take it as a given that if it really were just as easy as snap your 
fingers and someone who lost their vision could have it back, even 
those with healthy adaptation to it would take the magic bullet 
solution, regardless of what they'd say now while it's a hypothetical 
situation.

Though I've done it (for interesting reasons beyond the scope of this 
discussion), one need not study the psychological impacts of acquiring 
a disability and of having one suddenly "cured" to reason the result:  
The most likely response is to expect that those things we believe 
were not because of blindness suddenly now can be.  But the world is 
imperfect, and so are we.  How much has blindness really impeded our 
ambitions, our hopes, and our dreams?  Many on this list, me among 
them, will tell any who ask that it need not have any impact at all 
unless we allow it to.

And so, we may reasonably expect a strong dose of reality to create a 
sense of disappointment at what we've lost, isolation from those 
around us who simply don't understand, a loss of identity (this time 
with the blind), and depression.  Very similar to the effects of 
acquiring a disability in the first place, actually.  We may expect 
it, and indeed what I've found on the subject (there aren't many 
documented case studies obviously) suggests that we should expect it.

Of course in my own case, the problem with acuity is as much a 
neurological issue as it is optical.  Because I know what I know, I 
can confidently say that I would turn down even a nanotechnology 
solution that could correct even that problem.

But then, my response of, "No thanks!" is pretty typical of those 
with congenital blindness that is not degenerative in nature.  As I 
said, it's those who had it and lost it that are likely to want it 
back, if it were really that easy to have it back.

I can somewhat relate (again, beyond the scope of discussion), but 
basically the way my eyes do and don't work is pretty much what it 
has always been and what it shall always be.  Given that, and given 
also what I know about the likely result, it's no surprise that I am 
not the least bit interested.

Unless of course it could end the headaches for good.  I'd take that 
in a second, because that genuinely would improve my life.  If I got 
acuity out of the deal as well, I'll get myself a good counselor, a 
good spiritual director, and a good priest and pray for the best 
possible results.  *grin*

I'd remain a Federationist, regardless.  They'd have to throw me out 
to get rid of me.  (Probably some wouldn't have minded doing so a 
time or two over the years!)

Joseph


On Thu, Nov 04, 2010 at 11:14:58AM -0500, Ray Foret Jr wrote:
>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.
>>>
>>>
>>> --
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>>
>>
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