Imagine a day when blindness will no longer be a life sentence. The future is indeed approaching rapidly. The medical technology of the present is creating bionic eyes. These miracles are intended to restore the sense of sight to those affected by retinal degenerative disease. Conditions include retinitis pigmentosa or macular degeneration associated with aging.
Bionic eyes, or retinal implantation, accomplish this by bypassing the nonfunctioning photoreceptor cells in the retina. The photoreceptor cells are responsible for converting light into electrical signals the brain recognizes as images. When the cells are nonfunctioning or damaged, vision is compromised or eliminated. The device of the bionic eye typically comprises several components. It includes the glasses-mounted camera to capture the visual data. The processor converts the visual data into electric signals. It also includes the implant. The implant is surgically placed inside the eyeball to stimulate the surviving retinal cells. Lastly, it includes the transmitter to send processed visual data from the processor to the implant. When the camera records an image, the processor converts it into the electric signals. The signals are passed to the implant, which stimulates the retinal cells. The stimulated cells send signals through the optic nerve to the brain, which processes them as visual data.
The most prominent known implantable bionic eye is the Argus II by Second Sight Medical Products. The FDA approved the Argus II in 2013, which brought about partial sight to several patients. Patients were able to see light, distinguish shapes, and even recognize big letters. Another device is the Alpha-IMS subretinal implant, which stimulates the retina directly. The device also showed that it can provide higher-definition vision. Patients have the ability to recognize faces and travel through the environment more easily.
All these advancements notwithstanding, however, there are problems with bionic eyes. The technology is in its infancy. The vision they provide is currently just simple forms and light perception. The high cost of the equipment, too, as well as the requirement for surgery, is a barrier towards general acceptability. But continuous R&D is paving the way for more developed and affordable bionic sight systems. Future versions will be of greater resolution, more natural sight, even compatible with other technologies, such as with augmented reality.
Bionic eyes are a medical technology with immense promise for the restoration of sight for millions of blind individuals. While much still remains to be overcome, the potential the technology holds to change lives is vast. Science continually progresses. The possibility of the blind regaining sight is a very real one. This enlightens the horizon towards a brighter tomorrow for the blind.
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