Posted on 10/31/2016 3:54:34 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
Scientists are on the brink of restoring sight to the blind by sending moving images directly to the brain.
In a world-first, surgeons have implanted a visual stimulator chip in the brain of a 30-year-old woman.
The patient, who has been totally blind for seven years, saw coloured flashes, lines and spots when signals were sent to her brain from a computer.
Her doctors are now planning to send footage from a tiny video camera to the brain, which could provide the worlds first bionic eye and restore sight to millions.
The technology bypasses the eyes, meaning it has the potential to restore sight even to those who have lost an eye or become blinded by cancer.
During six weeks of testing, the patient has consistently seen the exact signals the scientists sent to her visual cortex, the section of the brain which usually receives images from the optic nerve.
Doctors at the University of California Los Angeles are awaiting permission from US regulators to connect the system to a camera, worn in a pair of glasses, which they hope will send moving images directly to the brain.
Dr Nader Pouratian, who performed the operation, said: The moment she saw colour for the first time was a very emotional experience. It touched us all very deeply as human beings. Based on these results, this system has the potential to restore sight to the blind.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
...amazing stuff
Really cool.
Bookmarked
Just don’t let Google get anywhere near it. They will find a way to send advertisements directly to the brain.
Tears of happiness for her are flowing. What a remarkable age of discovery and invention this is.
color me skeptic
since she had never “seen “ before, she doesn’t know what the sensation really was
Thirty year old, totally blind for seven years.
“urgeons have implanted a visual stimulator chip in the brain of a 30-year-old woman. The patient, who has been totally blind for seven years”
I color you lazy.
Hahaha, I see what you did there... lazy eye...
Good one
May many be blessed.
"Gentlemen, we can rebuild him."
There used to be a special sale where you could get one, along with two bionic legs and one bionic arm for only six million dollars.
The “i-Eye”? Could give new meaning to “You are the Apple of my eye.” :-)
Experiments from years ago showed similar results. People have been able to “see” through their tongues and the skin on their backs. The brain doesn’t require an “eye” to see. It just requires the input from the eye. If you can produce that input (from a camera, for example), and get it the signal to the visual part of the brain (via nerves on your back or tongue, for example), your brain will see.
Someone who has previously been able to see but has lost the ability already has the neurons in place to process visual information. Someone who has never had sight, might not be able to see, or at the very least would have to “learn” to process the visual information. Most of us learn to do that during infancy.
Steve Austin had one
Bookmark.
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