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Bionic eye: A review

Article  in  International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Review and Research · May 2011

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Volume 8, Issue 1, May – June 2011; Article-027 ISSN 0976 – 044X

Review Article

BIONIC EYE: A REVIEW

Mayuresh. U.Chittal*
M.G.V’s Pharmacy College, Panchvati, Nasik, Maharashtra, India.
*Corresponding author’s E-mail: mayuresh_chittal@rediffmail.com

Accepted on: 28-02-2011; Finalized on: 01-05-2011.

ABSTRACT
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a group of genetic eye conditions that leads to incurable blindness. It further results in tunnel vision,
people with Retinitis pigmentosa are not legally blind until their 40s or 50s, while in some cases patients may become blind due to
RP as early as in their childhood. However, patients who have gone blind because of retinitis pigmentosa are a step closer to
perhaps one day regaining some of their sight with the news that the United States FDA has approved a study to evaluate an
artificial retina. Researchers at the USC Doheny Eye Institute have developed the technology that hopefully will help patients with
Retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration regains some vision using an implanted artificial retina. The Food and Drug
Administration approved an Investigational Device Exemption to conduct a clinical study of the new device – dubbed the Argus II
Bionic Retinal System. Apart from these there have been breakthroughs in development of bionic eye in number of institutions
throughout the world. This review paper deals the technology and the working of the device which would help in eradicating
blindness in the near future.
Keywords: Bionic eye, Retinitis pigmentosa, Argus II, Doheny eye institute.

INTRODUCTION The device consists of

The Argus II is the second generation of an electronic  The array is attached to the retina and used in
retinal implant designed for the treatment of blindness conjunction with an external camera.
due to Retinitis pigmentosa. The first phase of the implant
 Video processing system to provide a
study began in 2002 which was followed by successful
rudimentary form of sight to implanted subjects.
implantation in six patients in the trial, it was found that
the devices are indeed electrically conducting and posses Following observations were made after the device was
potential to be used in patients to detect light or even implanted in few individuals
distinguish between objects such as cup or plate. The
The clinical trial of the first generation of implants
device is basically meant to take place of photoreceptors.
continues at the Doheny Eye Institute at USC. All six
While the first generation of implant contained 16
previously blind patients in the first trial have been able
electrodes laid out in array, the Argus II is meant to
to detect light, identify objects in their environment and
contain 60 electrodes, which would further help in
even perceive motion after implantation with the device.
providing higher resolution images. The new device is
approximately one quarter the size of original device,
STATE AND DEVELOPMENT OF BIONIC EYE
reducing surgery and recovery times.1,2
Apart from Argus II there are number of devices which
are in development and would be made available in near
future. One such device is the Prototype device created
by the Bionic Vision Australia
Researchers at Bionic Vision Australia (BVA) have
produced a prototype version of a bionic eye implant that
could be ready to start restoring rudimentary vision to
blind people as soon as 2013. The system consists of a
pair of glasses with a camera built in, a processor that fits
in your pocket, and an ocular implant that sits against the
retina at the back of the eye and electronically stimulates
the retinal neurons that send visual information to the
brain. The resulting visual picture is blocky and low-res at
this point, but the technology is bound to improve, and
even in its current form it's going to be a major life-
changer for those with no vision at all. And the future
Figure 1: Comparisons between different prototype of
potential - even for sighted people - is fascinating.
Argus II

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Volume 8, Issue 1, May – June 2011; Article-027 ISSN 0976 – 044X

Thanks to an Australian government injection of almost pocket. This processor sends a crunched image to a tiny
$40 million in 2009, Bionic Vision Australia has been able 2x4mm chip that's implanted directly onto the retina -
to revise the timeline of its innovative bionic eye program and the chip directly stimulates the visual neurons,
4
from "around 2020" to as close as three years away. sending a rough visual signal to the brain for processing.
Researchers have demonstrated a prototype of the device
they hope will begin restoring sight to blind people as THE RESOLUTION CHALLENGE
early as 2013. 3, 4
The challenge in bionic eye design is not to get a signal
through to the brain, but to improve the resolution and
detail of that signal. The first version of the Argus system
had only 16 electrodes, so it effectively sent a 16-"pixel"
image to the brain. The next-gen Argus II carries 60
electrodes. The prototype unveiled this week by BVA is a
little more advanced, but still quite rudimentary in the
scheme of things. It offers 100 electrodes - so the
eventual picture will still be blocky and difficult for
somebody with normal vision to interpret. But
researchers say it will be enough to give enough vision to
a patient to let them walk around without assistance:
"Patients would be able to contrast light from dark and
move more independently, with the ability to distinguish
large objects and to avoid walking into them. They will be
Figure 2: Construction of Argus II. able to see outlines such as buildings, cars and park
benches. This prototype should be ready for the first
WORKING OF DEVICE human implant in 2011." The second prototype model
they're working on for its first trial run in 2013 is more
The retina can be very simplistically described as a matrix exciting - with 1000-electrode resolution, the picture will
of nerve cells that fire when they're struck by certain become a lot clearer for patients who receive the implant.
types and levels of light. Those neurons send an electrical Talking of 20/80 vision, or more than enough to recognize
signal back to the brain's visual cortex, where information faces, read large print and generally integrate much
about colour, light intensity, edges and lots of other better into a visually-focused world.
interesting stuff is reassembled and the brain can begin
processing it to try to work out what's going on - working BIOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
out what objects you're looking at, what's moving, what's
important. It's an incredibly complex and fascinating The ability to give sight to a blind person via a bionic eye
system, but it all starts with the retina, where light that depends on the circumstances surrounding the loss of
comes into the eye is converted to nerve impulses. You sight. For retinal prostheses, which are the most
could view the bionic eye implant as an aftermarket prevalent visual prosthetic under development (due to
replacement for a retina that's no longer capable of ease of access to the retina among other considerations),
performing this function. vision loss due to degeneration of photoreceptors
(retinitis pigmentosa, choroideremia, geographic atrophy
macular degeneration) is the best candidate for
treatment. Candidates for visual prosthetic implants find
the procedure most successful if the optic nerve was
developed prior to the onset of blindness. Persons born
with blindness may lack a fully developed optical nerve,
which typically develops prior to birth.

LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE

Beyond these two prototype stages, it should
theoretically be possible to improve the device up to and
even beyond the capability of a working human eye. At
that stage, all sorts of things become possible, from bionic
super-vision, to the ability to see infra-red, night vision or
Figure 3: Working of the BVA implant X-ray content, to the ability to relay augmented reality
BVA's bionic eye works in a similar way to the US-based "terminator vision" directly to the visual cortex. You could
Argus II system. A small camera is mounted on top of a magnify images without binoculars, run software
pair of glasses, and the resulting images are sent to a algorithms to block out bright sunlight and glare so you'd
small processor unit that can be kept in a patient's never need sunglasses, or watch a video in one eye while
the other's free to let you walk around. And just imagine
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Volume 8, Issue 1, May – June 2011; Article-027 ISSN 0976 – 044X

the potential for virtual reality and immersive movies that REFERENCES
are played out directly into your own 1. Ophthalmology by Myron Yanoff, Jay S. Duker.
eyes...Communicating directly through an implant to the
brain's visual cortex is a very exciting area of technology 2. http://singularityhub.com/tag/bionic-eye/
that's currently in its infancy but has massive future 3. http://www.doheny.org/news/retinalimplant.html
potential. And while there are immediate benefits in sight
4. http://bionicvision.org.au/
for the blind, it's fascinating to speculate where this might
lead for the rest of us.

About Corresponding Author: Mr. Mayuresh.U.Chittal

Mr. Mayuresh.U.Chittal, presently pursuing Bachelors in Pharmacy from M.G.V’s Pharmacy

College, Nashik, Maharashtra, INDIA. He dedicated this Review to his Professor and Mentor
Mr.S.V.Amrutkar. He is looking forward to a career in Drug Design and Research.

International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Review and Research Page 151

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