Bionic eye could end blindness.

PositionTechnology - Medical research - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

Artificial vision for the blind was once the stuff of science fiction. Now, however, a limited form of artificial vision is nearing reality. The Dobelle Institute, Commack, N.Y., is working on creating a new cornea--which will allow light into the eye's interior--through technology. It is using a digital camera mounted on glasses to capture an image and send it to a small computer on a patient's belt. The images are processed and sent to electrodes implanted in the patient's visual cortex. The electrodes stimulate the brain, producing a pattern of bright spots that form an image. The technology "may not work for people blinded as children or as infants, because the visual cortex did not develop normally," explains Bill Dobelle. "But, I would say [it will work] for the vast majority of the blind--98 to 99%."

The black-and-white image is not solid, but resembles a dot matrix pattern. It's like looking at a sport scoreboard with different light patterns illuminated to show different scores. Miniaturization of equipment and more-powerful computers has made this artificial vision possible, but it is...

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