One of the important research challenges in the next decade is to develop a research strategy that will restore vision in patients who have lost their sight as a result of photoreceptor cell loss. Much recent media attention has been given to the development of implantable electronic prosthetics, which are able to take a visual image from a camera and stimulate the surviving output neurons of the retina (retinal ganglion cells).
Research in the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology is exploring acomplementary optobionic strategy in which surviving retinal neurons are light sensitized to couple a functional prosthetic. With funding from EPSRC we are collaborating on the development of such a device and performing proof of principal experiments.
http://www.eye.ox.ac.uk/research/artificial-vision
The Artificial Vision and Intelligent Systems Laboratory of the University of Parma (also known as Parma VisLab or VisLab) is the artificial vision research laboratory of University of Parma, Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione.
It started its activities in 1990, with the involvement of the researchers within the Eureka PROMETHEUS Project. Since then the research group is focused on vehicular applications. VisLab is regarded as one of the leading centers for artificial vision applied to vehicles.
VisLab, directed by Alberto Broggi, undertakes research in basic and applied computer vision; the most important field of research is the perception of the surrounding environment in vehicular applications using cameras and fusion with other sensors[1]. Its researchers contribute to fields such as artificial vision, image processing, machine learning, neural networks, robotics, and sensor fusion[1]. The number of researchers at VisLab increased dramatically in the last few years reaching 20 individuals, thanks to many projects with automotive industries and suppliers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VisLab
Development of Artificial Vision
TOWARDS CREATING THE JOYS OF SEEING
NIDEK established the first vision institute for artificial vision in Japan in 2001 to initiate the actual research and development of an artificial vision prosthesis, which has been the ultimate goal of NIDEK since its foundation. Linking electronics and biotechnology, NIDEK has made the commitment to the development of technology that will provide or restore vision for the visually impaired around the world.
 Producing of the delicate electric circuits for the implant device in a special booth with no exposure to light. |
 Designing the electric circuits of the implant. |
Future Prospects
Our short-term goal is to develop an artificial vision prosthesis for human clinical trials within 10 years. The target of this prosthesis is blind patients who once had vision. The artifical vision sends electrical pulses to the nervous system, and the stimuli are transferred to the brain so that light will be recognized. Our first step is to restore the perception of light, and in the future, stereo-scopic vision.
NIDEK's First National Project
The development of an artificial vision prosthesis has significant social importance. NIDEK has been selected by NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, JAPAN) to be part of, and promote, a 5-year contract research project "R&D for Artificial Vision System" started in 2001. And NIDEK newly received the subsidy from the government to continue the advanced research as a national project.This project has been implemented as a joint effort of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Clinical research is being conducted under the direction of several universities.
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Mechanism of the Artificial Vision Prosthesis | |
 | 1. Signal Conversion |
Types of Artificial Vision Prostheses | ||
There are various causes of visual disability, and different types of prostheses have different target patients. NIDEK is working on the early development of the most realistic and clinically safe artificial vision prosthesis.
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Artificial vision prosthesis is an artificial sensor to restore vision by sending electric pulses to the nervous system using implanted stimulus electrodes.
http://www.nidek-intl.com/artificial_vision.html
How Artificial Vision Will Work
Even if you wear eyeglasses, your vision is probably good enough that you can recognize the small letters on this page. Text on most computer screens is about 3 millimeters tall and 2 mm wide (.12 x .08 inches). As you read this one sentence, you are probably oblivious to the thousands of pieces of visual information that your eyes are gathering each second. Just in the retina alone, there are millions of cells at work right now acting as photoreceptors reacting to light, similar to how a camera works to capture images on film.
The retina is a thin layer of neural tissue that lines the back wall inside the eye. Some of these cells act to receive light, while others interpret the information and send messages to the brain through the opticnerve. This is part of the process that enables you to see. In damaged or dysfunctional retinas, the photoreceptors stop working, causing blindness. By some estimates, there are more than 10 million people worldwide affected by retinal diseases that lead to loss of vision.
Until now, those who lost their vision to retinal disease would have had little hope of regaining it. But technological breakthroughs could soon give back the gift of sight. Several groups of scientists have already developed silicon microchips that can create artificial vision. In this article, we will examine how your retinas work and why blindness caused by retinal disease no longer means the loss of vision.
How Your Retina Works
The eye is one of the most amazing organs in the body. To understand how artificial vision is created, it's important to know about the important role that the retina plays in how you see. Here is a simple explanation of what happens when you look at an object:- Scattered light from the object enters through the cornea.
- The light is projected onto the retina.
- The retina sends messages to the brain through the optic nerve.
- The brain interprets what the object is.
 The anatomy of the eye |
The retina is complex in itself. This thin membrane at the back of the eye is a vital part of your ability to see. Its main function is to receive and transmit images to the brain. These are the three main types of cells in the eye that help perform this function:
- rods
- cones
- ganglion cells
The information received by the rods and cones are then transmitted to the nearly 1 million ganglion cells in the retina. These ganglion cells interpret the messages from the rods and cones and send the information on to the brain by way of the optic nerve.
There are a number of retinal diseases that attack these cells, which can lead to blindness. The most notable of these diseases are retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration. Both of these diseases attack the retina, rendering the rods and cones inoperative, causing either loss of peripheral vision or total blindness. However, it's been found that neither of these retinal diseases affect the ganglion cells or the optic nerve. This means that if scientists can develop artificial cones and rods, information could still be sent to the brain for interpretation.
Creating Artificial Sight
 Photo courtesy Optobionics The dot above the date on this penny is the full size of the artificial silicon retina. |
The current path that scientists are taking to create artificial visionreceived a jolt in 1988, when Dr. Mark Humayun demonstrated that a blind person could be made to see light by stimulating the nerveganglia behind the retina with an electrical current. This test proved that the nerves behind the retina still functioned even when the retina had degenerated. Based on this information, scientists set out to create a device that could translate images and electrical pulses that could restore vision.
Today, such a device is very close to becoming available to the millions of people who have lost their vision to retinal disease. The artificial silicon retina (ASR), developed by Optobionics, which was in FDA clinical trials as of late 2007, improved vision in 10 subjects over a period of two years [source: Groves]. As of late 2007, however, Optobionics was in bankruptcy and awaiting a buyer, which would allow the trials to continue.
As you can see in the picture at the top of this page, the ASR is an extremely tiny device, smaller than the surface of a pencil eraser. It has a diameter of just 2 mm (.078 inch) and is thinner than a human hair. There is good reason for its microscopic size. In order for an artificial retina to work it has to be small enough so that doctors can transplant it in the eye without damaging the other structures within the eye.
The most significant development in artifical retina research has been the Department of Energy's creation of the Artificial Retina Project, which is led by Mark Humayun. The ARP is a group of public and private companies, universities and research labs that has pooled their efforts to perfect a nano-size device. Since 2002, six blind volunteers have been fitted with the device, which has been successful in helping them perceive light and dark and large objects. The ARP also has two more devices in testing.
How the Artificial Silicon Retina Works
The ASR contains about 3,500 microscopic solar cells that are able to convert light into electrical pulses, mimicking the function of cones and rods. To implant this device into the eye, surgeons make three tiny incisions no larger than the diameter of a needle in the white part of the eye. Through these incisions, the surgeons introduce a miniature cutting and vacuuming device that removes the gel in the middle of the eye and replaces it with saline. Next, a pinpoint opening is made in the retina through which they inject fluid to lift up a portion of the retina from the back of the eye, which creates a small pocket in the subretinal space for the device to fit in. The retina is then resealed over the ASR.
 Photo courtesy Optobionics Here you can see where the ASR is placed between the outer and inner retinal layers. |
For any microchip to work it needs power, and the amazing thing about the ASR is that it receives all of its needed power from the light entering the eye. As you learned before, light that enters the eye is directed at the retina. This means that with the ASR implant in place behind the retina, it receives all of the light entering the eye. This solar energy eliminates the need for any wires, batteries or other secondary devices to supply power.
Another microchip device that would restore partial vision is currently in development by a team of researchers from Johns Hopkins University, North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Called the artificial retina component chip (ARCC), this device is quite similar to the ASR. Both are made of silicon and both are powered by solar energy. The ARCC is also a very small device measuring 2 mm square with a thickness of .02 mm (.00078 inch). There are significant differences between the devices, however.
Unlike the ASR, which is placed between layers of retinal tissue, the ARCC is placed on top of the retina. Because it is so thin, light entering the eye is allowed to pass through the device to strike the photosensors on the back of the chip. However, this light is not the power source for the ARCC. Instead, a secondary device attached to a pair ofeyeglasses directs a laser at the chip's solar cells to provide power. The laser would have to be powered by a smallbattery pack.
According to researchers, the ARCC will give blind patients the ability to see 10 by 10 pixel images, which is about the size of a single letter on this page. However, researchers have said that they could eventually develop a version of the chip that would allow 250 by 250 pixel array, which would allow those who were once blind to read anewspaper.
Sources
- Artificial Retina Project. http://artificialretina.energy.gov/
- Fackelmann, Katherine. "Tiny chip might restore vision in blind patients." USA Today, July 31, 2001. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2001-08-01-chip-usat.htm
- Gawel, Richard. "Artificial Retina Project Gives Hope to the Blind." Electronic Design, Nov. 15, 2004.
- Groves, Nancy. "Artificial Silicon Retina Microchip Improves Vision in Some Patients." Opthamology Times, Nov. 1, 2007.
- Morrow Jr., John K. "Researchers make great strides under Artificial Retina Project." Opthamology Times, Sept. 15, 2007.
- Nighswonger, Greg. "Implantable Chips and Advanced Materials Stimulate Research Efforts to Restore Sight." Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry, July 1999.
- The Visionary: Newsletter for the Illinois Society for the Prevention of Blindness. Research Updates. http://www.eyehealthillinois.org/visionary/win2001/resupdates.html
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