This is the first bionic eye transplant in Britain. In the next three years, bionic eye technology is expected to be widely popularized.
This groundbreaking operation was performed in Moorfield Eye Hospital in mid-April. Both blind patients are in their fifties and have been blind for many years due to hereditary retinitis pigmentosa. During the operation, the surgical team led by ophthalmologist Linden implanted bionic eye named "argus II" for two patients. The price of argus II bionic eye is as high as15,000, which is produced by the American Second Vision Company and invented by the scientists of the Doheny Vision Society in Los Angeles, California, USA. It consists of a miniature camera and an artificial retina implanted on the surface of the patient's eyeball. 60 electrodes were implanted under the artificial retina. A miniature camera is installed above the glasses worn by the blind.
The image is similar to "impression painting"
The working principle of "argus II bionic eye" is: firstly, the external scene is captured by the camera on the patient's glasses, and then the image is transmitted to the artificial retina on the surface of the patient's eyeball by the wireless transmitter, and converted into an electric pulse signal. Then, the electrodes on the artificial retina will stimulate the optic nerve of the retina and continue to transmit signals to the brain along the optic nerve. These pulse signals can "trick" the brain into thinking that the patient's eyes are still working normally. In the end, patients can "see" the outside world like ordinary people and distinguish between light and darkness, thus restoring their vision. But the pulse signal provided by "bionic eye" can't reach the image quality captured by healthy eyes. It can only make the brain produce a black-and-white image with rough quality, which is somewhat similar to "impression painting" and lacks bright natural colors. After several months of research and observation of 2 1, Dr. Linden revealed that the two patients were in the rehabilitation stage, and they could recognize simple objects and walk around alone. Linden said: "Moorfield Eye Hospital is the only three hospitals in Europe that have been selected to participate in the' bionic eye' surgical trial, and we are very proud of it. Patients rely on crutches, guide dogs or others to help them find their way. And their' bionic eye' implantation was very successful. " Linden said that it will take several months for the two patients to learn how to use bionic eye gradually. Because for a blind person who has been blind for a long time, his brain needs a lot of time to learn to watch again. Experts predict that in the next three years, "bionic eye" technology is expected to be widely popularized in Britain, so that millions of blind people can see the light again through this method.
You can see your face clearly in the future.
In fact, the American company Second Vision developed the first bionic eye sample in 2002. Linda Mulford, a 64-year-old woman from Long Beach, California, USA, was the first blind patient in the world to receive a bionic eye transplant. After being completely blind for more than ten years, mulford finally received the first bionic eye transplant in 2004. However, the "bionic eye" implanted by mulford at that time was very primitive, and the doctor only implanted 16 electrodes in her eyeball. Sixty electrodes were implanted in this operation. In California, scientists even developed a kind of "bionic eye" with as many as 65,438+0,000 electrodes implanted. In the future, once the blind are equipped with this bionic eye, they will be able to distinguish different faces. Argus is the name of the one-eyed giant in Greek mythology. The artificial retina system named after it consists of a small camera, a microcomputer and some wireless communication tools.
In 2002, ArgusI consisted of 65,438+06 electrodes, which was inspired by an invention of the University of Southern California's Dohani Eye Institute. From 2002 to 2004, * * * performed 6 experimental implantation operations. These patients have a simple sense of light, can judge the movement of objects and can distinguish objects from the background.
2011February15th According to the Associated Press, an American company successfully helped the blind to recover part of their vision by implanting "artificial retina" in their eyes. The company named SecondSight implanted an artificial device called ArgusII into the right eye of EricSelby, a 68-year-old retired engineer. Saibi has been blind for 20 years, and he relies on guide dogs to go out. But after the operation, he can "see" ordinary objects such as sidewalks.
This artificial retina will be first tried in hospitals in London, Manchester, Paris and Geneva, and will be sold in the United States once it is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Second Vision Company hopes to sell 65,438+000 implanted devices in the first year, and the price tag of each device is 65,438+million dollars. "Although the price seems a little high," Dr. Greenberg said, "it is actually similar to the price of the first cochlear implant." He hopes that ArgusII can be included in the government subsidy plan, so that the price will become more acceptable.
The company applied for 76 patents in the United States. They have prepared the animal experiment of ArgusIII, and the new generation of artificial retina will have hundreds of electrodes.
Although argus can only make people see some bright spots, its future will be limitless. The technology just introduced to the market will not be the final version, and these bright spots have already shown the light of hope. On May 201April 6/KLOC-0, professors from the Medical College of Osaka University, Japan and others began the clinical trial of artificial retina.
In this experiment, electrodes were implanted in the eyes of patients who were close to blindness, and the vision of the first patient was restored to the degree of being able to distinguish the shape of the object. The research team plans to have a second operation in June. After confirming the safety and therapeutic effect, it is planned to put it into practical clinical application on the basis of 20 18 approved by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
According to reports, this clinical trial is aimed at patients with retinitis pigmentosa. Electrodes are implanted in the back of the patient's eyeball to apply electrical stimulation to the surviving retinal cells.
The research team implanted the artificial retina into the eyes of the first patient at the end of 1. Before the operation, the patient can only recognize the light and shade, but after the operation, the patient can not only grasp the long stick in front of him, but also recognize the direction in which the long stick moves.
From 2015 to 2016, Osaka University plans to cooperate with enterprises and other universities to carry out formal clinical trials for patients with 10~ 15.