Woman gains sight with new bionic eye

[Transhumanist]

Err pardon me.....cant we manufacture it like intel chips on large scale to cut down the cost.

You can, but where's the demand and justifies such an expansive manufacturing run? Intel sells over 100 million microprocessors in a single quarter:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-finance-record-revenue-3q13,27889.html

In the US alone there are only around 10,000 persons who would be eligible for Argus II according to its developer Mark Humayun.

FDA Approves World's First Artificial Retina
- The American Society of Retina Specialists

Mike Jumper: How many patients could the Argus II be useful for in the United States?

Mark Humayun: The Argus II is approved as a humanitarian-use device, so it’s for an orphan indication; this is because even though RP has an incidence of about 1 in 4000, the number of patients who end up with this severe loss is smaller—there are probably 10,000 such patients today, with an annual incidence of a few hundred patients. That’s whom it’s planned for initially.

...

That's still a significant number of people, world-wide it would be even greater, but not enough to justify a long production run. It's a niche production.

Factor in support programs, the cost of surgery - including anesthesia, training for the patient, staff and personnel and the cost isn't likely to drop significantly.

...

3d printing could lower the cost of production, but not the cost of other factors such as surgery or after-procedure care:

3D Printer Helps Create Bionic Eye - eTeknix

3D Printing Creates Low-Cost Prosthetic Fingers | 3D Printing content from Machine Design

3d printed electronics are in their infancy however, but their progress is expanding rapidly too:

The CIA Is Investing In 3D Printers That Can Build Electronics

 

[Shamain]

ughhh immm angry n udaas n i want to write on the forum.

 

[Transhumanist]

They did not describe what does the patient sees ?

Exact image ?
Just light shades
Or ... fraction of true sense of seight ?

Dubbed as the “bionic eye”, the Argus II allows patients with little or no perception of light to achieve independence in mobility. However, this should not be mistaken as an instrument for people to gain perfect vision, but be considered an instrument that aids in the perception of shapes and movements.

Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System: The first bionic eye | Eye Care in New Jersey

Being able to make out shapes, shades, movements and basic structures is better than nothing. The image would be comparable to this:

Scientists reverse engineer animal brains to create bionic prosthetic eyes | ExtremeTech

 

[araz]

I'm praying this tech develops faster. I have a friend who lost one eye, in combat. He would greatly benefit from something like this.

much as i respect your friend and his sacrifice, I would venture to say that the system will be useless to him. He has one eye intact and you can function fairly normally with one eye. Secondly reading the earlier posts the system requires your brain to retrain. This may not happen as you already have a functioning eye. I do however wish him the best of luck.
Regards
A

 

[Transhumanist]

much as i respect your friend and his sacrifice, I would venture to say that the system will be useless to him. He has one eye intact and you can function fairly normally with one eye. Secondly reading the earlier posts the system requires your brain to retrain.

This is correct, Argus II requires a damaged or compromised eye to still be intact and other-wise functional... however, I do have some good news for @Indus Falcon 's friend.

Synthetic eyes, being able to function as eyes, are in the works. They are still in their infancy though and are still a few years away from serviceability.

Replace Your Eyeballs With Synthetic Ones | Popular Science

Italian company hopes to market synthetic eyeballs

An Artificial Eye That Can See?

 

[Indus Falcon]

This is correct, Argus II requires a damaged or compromised eye to still be intact and other-wise functional... however, I do have some good news for @Indus Falcon 's friend.

Synthetic eyes, being able to function as eyes, are in the works. They are still in their infancy though and are still a few years away from serviceability.

Replace Your Eyeballs With Synthetic Ones | Popular Science

Italian company hopes to market synthetic eyeballs

An Artificial Eye That Can See?

@araz @Transhumanist
While my friend was undergoing specialist eye treatment, I came across a 16yr old boy who had a very rare problem. He had some sort of birth defect that had affected one of his eyes and he couldn't see from it by birth. Nonetheless the problem he had at that time was that the pressure in his eye would rise to 45mm Hg. Whereas the normal one is about 20mm Hg max (if memory serves me right). The boy would shiver in pain. Risk being his brain could be affected, it was subsequently removed.

For someone to lose his eye at such a young age can be quite traumatic. Good thing was, that his other eye by the grace of God didn't have any issues. Nonetheless He went into severe depression, It was very tough, not on just him, but everyone around him, including me. I put in a lot of time with councillors, and he finally got through it, and is doing well now.

A synthetic eye in such a scenario can be a life saver.

Thank You for your input. Highly appreciate it.

Best Regards

 

[Shamain]

we have docs here @SipahSalar and i think @IrbiS was telling in eid thread theres a fake doc @S.U.R.B. (jk)

@araz @Transhumanist
While my friend was undergoing specialist eye treatment, I came across a 16yr old boy who had a very rare problem. He had some sort of birth defect that had affected one of his eyes and he couldn't see from it by birth. Nonetheless the problem he had at that time was that the pressure in his eye would rise to 45mm Hg. Whereas the normal one is about 20mm Hg max (if memory serves me right). The boy would shiver in pain. Risk being his brain could be affected, it was subsequently removed.

For someone to lose his eye at such a young age can be quite traumatic. Good thing was, that his other eye by the grace of God didn't have any issues. Nonetheless He went into severe depression, It was very tough, not on just him, but everyone around him, including me. I put in a lot of time with councillors, and he finally got through it, and is doing well now.

A synthetic eye in such a scenario can be a life saver.

Thank You for your input. Highly appreciate it.

Best Regards

but isnt eye transplant an option? if donor is found?

This is correct, Argus II requires a damaged or compromised eye to still be intact and other-wise functional... however, I do have some good news for @Indus Falcon 's friend.

Synthetic eyes, being able to function as eyes, are in the works. They are still in their infancy though and are still a few years away from serviceability.

Replace Your Eyeballs With Synthetic Ones | Popular Science

Italian company hopes to market synthetic eyeballs

An Artificial Eye That Can See?

if bionoc eye vision isnt clear then isnt the synthetic eye going to give similar grainy vision?

 

[Transhumanist]

if bionoc eye vision isnt clear then isnt the synthetic eye going to give similar grainy vision?

Not necessarily. A bionic eye is an attachment to a damaged eye that restores some functionality to the retina of a patient. But a synthetic eye is a complete replacement for the eye with mechanical parts and processors replacing the bio-organic parts. Rather than repairing a damaged eye and restoring some functionality, a synthetic eye would be akin to implanting a movie camera in-place of your eye and allowing the patient full functionality.

The fidelity of the synthetic eye's picture would be dependent on the processing capacity of its on-board sensors.

Synthetic eyes also open up the possibility of Augmented reality:

Which is awesome!

 

[Spectre]

This is correct, Argus II requires a damaged or compromised eye to still be intact and other-wise functional... however, I do have some good news for @Indus Falcon 's friend.

Synthetic eyes, being able to function as eyes, are in the works. They are still in their infancy though and are still a few years away from serviceability.

Replace Your Eyeballs With Synthetic Ones | Popular Science

Italian company hopes to market synthetic eyeballs

An Artificial Eye That Can See?

Will this work even after enoculation

 

[Transhumanist]

Will this work even after enoculation

No, Argus II requires the patient to still have their eyes, damaged or otherwise as it's an attachment rather than a replacement:

Argus II is is the gold film attached to the eye, the patients eye must be intact.

Synthetic eyes are being designed as a complete replacement for an eye, so enoculation would be mandatory in their case.

 

[Spectre]

Synthetic eyes are being designed as a complete replacement for an eye, so enoculation would be mandatory in their case.

Thanks for placing this bit of information in my view, pun intended!! I so want to have depth perception back again so that I can play racquet sports well , watch 3D movies, do bike racing and host of other stuff I miss.

May be one day

 

[SipahSalar]

we have docs here @SipahSalar

Bionic eyes are way above my pay grade , but i can still make a few comments on it based on previous knowledge.

The problem with any transplant is tissue rejection. Your body thinks the organ is there to invade so attacks it. Most patients end up taking medicines that suppress the immune system for the rest of their lives, the problem with that is that they become more susceptible to other infections like pnemonia.

The advantage with the eye is that it's blood supply is minimal. That means the defence against foreign bodies is also minimal. So there is minimal chance of organ rejection, so i have high hopes for this procedure.

 

[Shamain]

Not necessarily. A bionic eye is an attachment to a damaged eye that restores some functionality to the retina of a patient. But a synthetic eye is a complete replacement for the eye with mechanical parts and processors replacing the bio-organic parts. Rather than repairing a damaged eye and restoring some functionality, a synthetic eye would be akin to implanting a movie camera in-place of your eye and allowing the patient full functionality.

The fidelity of the synthetic eye's picture would be dependent on the processing capacity of its on-board sensors.

Synthetic eyes also open up the possibility of Augmented reality:

Which is awesome!

arent u tecnogainist? u werent posting offlatelt or imissed ur posts?
anyways so back on topic ok i get ur point. but again would the human brain wud be required to be trained as in the case of bionic?
lastly for the augemnted reality wudnt there be a need for internet connection ,how it will incorporate into the eye processors. i dont know icud be wrong in saying that but got this thought.