A recent report conducted by WHO showed that there are 39 million people who are suffering from blindness around the world and another 246 million with poor vision (WHO 2013). As a matter of fact, there is a certain need for a device to restore sight for the blind. Second Sight Centre has succeeded in creating a prosthesis device: the bionic eye Argus II. This device is an auspicious artificial eye, which can bring the hope of sight to the blind. It is considered as an innovation based on the definition by O’Sullivan (2008) as “the process of making changes, large and small, radical and incremental, to products, processes, and services that results in the introduction of something new for the organization that adds value to customers and contributes to the knowledge store of the organization”. This essay will first introduce the origin as well as the mechanism of the bionic eye and then its effectiveness on both individuals and society followed by its criticism.
The bionic eye is not a new invention. The idea of creating a retinal prosthesis has appeared for decades. The origin of this idea remains anonymously but it was in 1998 that Mann, Williams and Bjorg set up Second Sight Medical Products to realizer the theory. The first prosthesis system called Argus I was introduced in 2002. However, this device only provides a very limited sight with only 6 electrodes included so in 2006, Argus II has appeared as the next innovation and offered some hope of sight restoration.
Though this artificial eye seems to be a complicated device, it is quite simple to understand. According to Bionics Institute and the International Journal of Computer Science and Communication, bionic or bio electronic eye is a prosthesis device mimicking retina’...
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O’Sullivan, Dooley. 2008. Applying Innovation. SAGE Publication. Available from: http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/23137_Chapter_1.pdf [Accessed 18th April 2014].
Anthony. 2012. ExtremeTech. The laser-powered bionic eye that gives 576-pixel grayscale vision to the blind [online]. Available from: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/132918-the-laser-powered-bionic-eye-that-gives-576-pixel-grayscale-vision-to-the-blind [Accessed 4th March 2014].
Moore. 2013. CNET. World’s first approved bionic eye to launch in U.S. [online]. Available from: http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/worlds-first-approved-bionic-eye-to-launch-in-u-s [Accessed 3rd March 2014].
Second Sight. 2012. Second Sight EN 2012 Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System Artificial Retina Bionic Eye [Online]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi_HpbFKnSw#t=18 [Accessed 4th March 2014].
...icial Eye to create in-store cinema venues’ [online] screendaily. Available from http://www.screendaily.com/hmv-curzon-artificial-eye-to-create-in-store-cinema-venues/5000273.article [accessed on the 30-3-2014]
The skin technologies that have recently been created are astonishing. The remarkable breakthrough has made a huge advance in technology happen. Muscle and nerve control operation is when electrodes are permanently implanted into the nerves and muscles allowing the amputees limb to have total direct control. With this new muscle to nerve action
The eye is an important sensory organ for vision which houses a sensitive optical apparatus in a relatively isolated tissue compartment. Eye is essentially made of three layers: (1) sclera, (2) uveal tract, and (3) retina with each of these layers performing intricate duties which ensure proper functioning of the eye.
Adaptation to unpredictable conditions is a key force in driving human evolution. The ability to overcome predicaments with poise is one of the greatest assets humans possess. In “The Mind’s Eye”, Oliver Sacks recounts various perspectives of individuals coping with blindness. Each individual took a different path to becoming accustomed to their blindness and each of the case studies showed compensatory mechanism unique to the individual. Throughout the article, Sacks credits each person for playing to their assets because he views adaptability as a person’s capacity to alter their mode of thought in order to fit their circumstance. Although Sacks shows many examples of neuronal plasticity as an adaptation to blindness, he eludes to the impact
It may not even be prosthetic limbs, but organ replacements and other biological parts of the body that could be replaced. Like human eyes or the heart. The use of prosthetic limbs or prosthetic external equipment could become an essential part of the military. However, the benefits of military prosthetics could lead to the recommissioning of former soldiers turned
Once the rat experiment finished, he further tried to optimize his technology. Those implants were made after a membrane called Dura mater which covers the spinal cord and brain. The next step was to implement it on humans. The implementation was done on a man who was partially paralyzed because of an injury to his spinal cord 5 years before the implant. Those electrodes were implanted on the surface of the lower spinal cord just below the affected area.
Godoy, Maria. "Gene Therapy Offers Hope for the Blind." TechTV News. 1 May 2001. 4 Dec. 2002 [http://www.techtv.com/news/specialreport/story/0,24195,3325114,00.html].
When thinking of the word optogenetics, the word optimistic comes to mind, and that is exactly what optogenetics is. This new technology is optimistic to opening new doors to help save lives step by step, find cures, and a way for doctors to find underlying causes of life-threatening diseases. The idea was first brought up by Francis Crick, who also helped discover the double helix in DNA. “Crick’s idea was that light, with its unparalleled speed and precision, could be the ideal tool for controlling neurons and mapping the brain,” (Barth 3). Optogenetics is the technique of using different colored lights and proteins to activate neurons in the brain to change the way it functions (Dougherty 1). Optogenetics has the potential to achieve medical breakthroughs which can be beneficial to the health of humans and especially people who are affected by diseases of the brain like depression, Parkinson’s disease, and schizophrenia (Callaway 1). He believes that over time, this technique will be able to target the underlying causes and symptoms of life-threatening diseases such as: Parkinson’s disease, blindness, drug addiction, and many more. This innovation should only bring positive effects over society, as it could be a potential life saver to many. As of now this technology is only being tested in animals, but all of the experiments have been successful. With more studies and testing over time, it could soon be used in humans in less than a decade. With optogenetics already having success with the minds of animals, who knows what wonders this new technology could accomplish in the minds of humans.
The human eye is one of the most complex organisms in the human body and the lens is one of the most impressive structures within it! Despite being slightly over two centimeters in diameter, the human eye has over two million moving parts. Sight is a rapidly occurring process that involves continuous interaction between the eye, the nervous system, and the brain. The lens is a key component of the eye which, coupled with the cornea, focuses images onto the retina. This is easily achieved by the lenses biconvex shape, refractive index, clarity, and youth. In our younger years we have the ability to bring near objects into focus by the act of accommodation. Ciliary muscle shortening allows the lens to take on a more curved shape. Human vision can be limited by the optical quality of the eye, especially by the presence of a cataract. Cataracts are a very common age-related visual problem and the number of cataract operations performed is continuously on the rise; approximately 20 million surgeries were performed in 2010.
3. Waldrop, S.; Wojciechowski, M. The “bionic” warrior: advances in prosthetics, technology, and rehabilitation. PT Mag Phys Ther. April 2007;15(4): 60-66.
...ur brain. They have already made huge improvements in this area of prosthetics by creating some that can be controlled by the brain, but they aren’t used over a mass amount of people. In order to reach these goals we have to supply funding to the prosthetic and orthotic companies. Some are still using techniques that have been around for decades. In order for the field of prosthetics to advance in this world steps have to be taken in educating people in the new technology. I personally hope that in my lifetime I will be able to see prosthetics grow to what it can be in helping everyone, not just the people who can afford. This also means that we need to not just make prosthetics that work, but that have the patients comfort in mind. Overall prosthetics should be available to everyone and anyone, and the use of the CAD/CAM technology should be able to take us there.
An inspection of the modern animal phyla will reveal that eyes are just as diverse as they are complex. Some organisms like the rag worm have pigmented cup eyes while other like he box jellyfish have two lens eyes and two pairs of pigment pit eyes. To account for the diversity in eye structure, we must first examine the eye ‘prototype’, the original structure that was acted upon by evolution. The simplest organ that can be considered an eye is composed of a single photoreceptor cell and a single pigment cell, without any lens or other refractive body (Arendt, 2003). Such organs are know as eyespots, and...
Terminator and Bladerunner, portrayed cyborgs or cybernetic organisms as creatures of destruction. Are they really as horrible as the movies make them out to be? They can be more useful than perceived; it is necessary to first perfect the technology involved in creating and operating them. In this paper, I will describe how these cyborgs work and how they are portrayed in the movies. Furthermore, I will explain the helpful ways that they are expected to perform in the future.
"Microchip Implants Closer to reality." The Futurist. 33.8 (1999): 9. Proquest Platinum. Proquest Information and Learning Co. Glenwood High School Lib., Chatham, IL 25 Oct. 2004
The images formed on the two retinas are so unlike that they cannot be blended in the brain. Thus, a double image is perceived. The condition is known as diplopia, or double vision. Prismatic lenses are prescribed to correct this defect.Imperfections in the cones of the retina, resulting from heredity or disease, cause defective color vision. This is known as color blindness, or Daltonism. In total color blindness, everything appears in shades of gray.