Sounds almost like a sci-fi movie, but there is light in the dark for those who have lost their eyesight. A high-tech curing device is on the anvil
AT LEAST partial eyesight to
the blind may be restored,
say researchers in the us in
a recent study. An artificial
vision system with tiny TV
cameras in eyeglasses sending invisible laser-borne
messages to a computer
inside the eye would perform this magic.
The computer, about
the size of the date on a
rupee coin, floats gently on
the thin, wet tissue of the
retina, powered by solar
cells activated by the laser
beam. The computer con-
verts visual signals encoded
in the laser beam to electrical impulses to be sent to
the brain, reporte
Associated Press recently.
If that sounds like Z
something possible only in
science fiction movies, ts
Joseph Rizzo, one of its
developers, has an answer. He points to
the success of the electronic cochlear
implant, which is now enabling many
deaf people to hear.
The device, which is the first eye-on-
a-chip, has just been completed at a cost
of us $500,000, Rizzo said. But mass
production of the chips should bring the
cost down to as low as us $50 each, he
added.
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