lordofgun
07-25-2002, 03:31 PM
UCLA researchers have helped to develop a "vision chip" which can help some blind patients see again.
The development is good news for one in four Americans over the age of 64, who suffer from a now curable form of blindness according to the Macular Degeneration Research Foundation.
In humans, normal vision starts when an image passes through the eyeball and into the retina at the back of the eye. The retina contains photoreceptors which break down the image and creates the corresponding neural stimulus, or signals, to the brain.
In many blind patients, the retina degenerates and the photoreceptors no longer function, leading to blindness.
The vision chip works by replacing the function of the eye's retina, acting like a photoreceptor which processes images and sends the correct signals to the brain to form an image.
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/db/articles.asp?ID=20386
The development is good news for one in four Americans over the age of 64, who suffer from a now curable form of blindness according to the Macular Degeneration Research Foundation.
In humans, normal vision starts when an image passes through the eyeball and into the retina at the back of the eye. The retina contains photoreceptors which break down the image and creates the corresponding neural stimulus, or signals, to the brain.
In many blind patients, the retina degenerates and the photoreceptors no longer function, leading to blindness.
The vision chip works by replacing the function of the eye's retina, acting like a photoreceptor which processes images and sends the correct signals to the brain to form an image.
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/db/articles.asp?ID=20386