Tiny third-eye cameras will let blind people 'see' (11/30/2007)

The bionic eye is one step closer to reality, thanks in part to important research undertaken at Queensland University of Technology.

QUT School of Electrical Engineering researcher Dr Jason Dowling is part of an international team of researchers working to turn vision recorded by miniscule cameras into information the brain can use to restore vision to blind people.

Dr Dowling said a tiny camera could be placed in the centre of a pair of glasses and connected to a palm-sized computer, which in turn would relay information to electrodes implanted in a person's eye or brain.

"The system captures images from a video camera and stimulates the implanted electrodes in an organised way, when these electrodes are stimulated a blind person can perceive spots of light," Dr Dowling said.

"This produces a reduced resolution 'spot' image for the person, enabling them to negotiate obstacles and doorways.

"My role in the research was to investigate different ways to process the information recorded by the camera before it is sent to the electrodes."

Dr Dowling said the system could restore partial vision to people who had lost their eyesight through sickness or accident.

"These prosthesis systems promise to provide useful information to a blind person for mobility, reading and face recognition," he said.

"They would suit people who have lost their vision but would not work for people who were born blind because the neural connections between the eyes and brain do not develop if they are not used in early childhood."

Dr Dowling said visual prosthetics was a field undergoing great growth but there was still a long way to go before perfect vision could be created by a bionic eye.

"Visual prosthetics are still in the developmental phase and currently there are greater benefits for a person learning to walk with a cane or using an electronic mobility device," he said.

"People who have become blind shouldn't put off talking to an orientation and mobility specialist, such as Guide Dogs Australia."

Dr Dowling was supervised by Dr Anthony Maeder from the CSIRO e-Health Research Centre and QUT's Associate Professor Wageeh Boles, and received funding from Cochlear Ltd and the Australian Research Council.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Queensland University of Technology

Post Comments: