There is great news for the blind that scientists have come close to restoring sight through a treatment that does not require eyes to see.
Yes, a team of scientists at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN) has worked day and night to develop a technology that will restore sight to blind people.
In fact, decades ago, scientists had this idea to show the dots in a special way by stimulating the brain electrically, but due to technical obstacles, this idea might not become a reality until now, and in this way, only light and dark. The difference might only be shown.
How does this technology work?
However, now the team led by NIN director Peter Roelf Seema has successfully tested the implant technology on 2 monkeys, whereby 1024 electrodes are installed in the visual cortex (VISUAL CORTEX), the part of the brain that is related to seeing. were performed, resulting in better quality vision than before.
The visual cortex is located at the back of the brain and functions similarly in humans and other animals.
The monkeys were pre-trained to move their eyes in a certain direction and following the electrodes were installed, when they moved their eyes in the certain direction, they saw different shapes like letters, lines, moving spots, etc. The quality of which was much better than in the past.
There has been great success in showing monochromatic images to the brain in this way, but achieving vision closer to reality is still a challenge.
What will the device look like?
The head of the team says that this is a huge breakthrough and his team now has a proof of principle through which we will lay the foundation for a neuroprosthetic device for nearly 40 million blind people in the world. .
The device would have a camera that the blind person would wear, it might be like a pair of glasses with a camera embedded in it, this camera would use artificial intelligence to create a specific pattern of whatever was in front of it and send signals to the brain. Well, in simple words, this camera will play the role of the eye.
The NIN team has benefited greatly from the miniaturization of electronic components and hopes to develop the device for humans within the next 3 years.
However, the big problem right now is that the electrodes the team is using require a silicone needle and they work fine for a year, but then tissue starts growing around it and it stops working. It does.
So the team is working on making electrodes from materials that can be easily accepted by the human body, but the best way would be a virus-free device.
When the device becomes virus-free, there will be no need to implant the device behind the human skull and it will also reduce the risk of infection in the infected person.
Fortunately, there are daily advances in the development of wireless devices that work in sync with the brain.
Will the congenitally blind also benefit?
Scientists say that this technology will currently only benefit people who were not born blind and lost their sight due to an accident or injury.
This is because a person who is born blind, the part of the brain that is dedicated to vision begins to do other things, but people who can see and become blind for some reason do not. The visual cortex waits for the signal and starts working once more when it receives the signal.
#major #breakthrough #scientists #eyes
2024-07-07 16:07:04