There are many benefits to science: the in-depth study of the “who, what, why, when, where, and how.” Science answers questions, solves problems, and ideally increases the quality of life. The California based company Second Sight has done just that and advanced the future of eye care with their new “bionic eye” called the Argus II.
The FDA recently approved the Argus II, a pair of glasses that act as a retinal prosthesis to help people that have lost their vision from the degenerative eye disease, Retinitis Pigmentosa. The glasses have a video camera attached to them, and this camera wirelessly transmits an image to a chip that is implanted onto the retina. This stimulation sends visual information up the optic nerve to the visual cortex of the user’s brain, allowing him or her to see.
The device doesn’t restore vision, but the patients can detect light and dark, which then allows them to see borders and boundaries, or even an object’s movement. As improvements and software updates are made, Second Sight hopes the Argus II will allow patients to recognize faces. Imagine someone who has never seen a family member before due to blindness, seeing a loved one for the first time. The East West Eye Institute applauds such an amazing advancement in eye care technology and looks forward to further developments.
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