The device allowed the patient to see the world as a pattern of luminous points. The resolution was low, but it was enough to distinguish between letters and people. Following the first patient, five more volunteers suffering from blindness will receive a bionic eye.
Bernadette Gomez lost her sight 16 years ago. However, new technologies have restored her ability to see - at least temporarily. The woman, whose story is told by the MIT Technology Review, became a participant in an experiment to create a bionic eye.
The unusual device was developed by the Spanish neuroengineer Eduardo Fernandez, an employee of the University of Miguel Hernandez. It consists of several parts. The first is the glasses equipped with a camera. Signals from it go to a computer, where they are converted into electrical impulses and sent through a cable to a special port. The port is inserted into the back of the skull and interacts with an implant in the visual cortex of the brain.
Bernadette Gomez tested the device for six months. During this period, she visited the laboratory four times a week to assess the quality of vision and overall well-being. According to Bernadette, she saw the world in low resolution, in the form of points of light. However, it was enough to identify letters and people, and play a simple computer game reminiscent of Pac-Man.
At the end of the experiment, researchers from Fernandez's team removed the implant from Bernadette's brain. Now they face larger tests. For example, you need to test technologies that will avoid the destruction of implants in the body. In the coming years, five more people suffering from vision loss will receive the "bionic eye".
Previously, the Paris-based company Pixium Vision conducted successful tests of the bionic eye. Unlike the development of Spanish scientists, it uses the optic nerve to transmit signals. The device returned the ability to read to five volunteers.
Author: Sergey Kolenov