 |
Bionic Eye
 A bionic eye is an extraordinary ceramic photocell developed by scientists, using space technology, that could repair a malfunctioning human eye. When eyes go blind in the retina, these are rods and cones that go malfunctioning, even though the wiring through the optic nerve is intact, as in retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration.  If these malfunctioning rods and cones could be replaced with the artificial ones, the blind would start seeing! Scientists at the Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center (SVEC) in Houston are experimenting with thin, photosensitive ceramic films that respond to light quite like rods and cones do. Arrays of such films, if they could be implanted in human eyes to restore lost vision would be called a bionic eye.  Earlier efforts in this field involved silicon-based photo-detectors. But since silicon is toxic to the human body, it couldn't work as a bionic eye. But SVEC's ceramic detectors are not so, hence they are very near to promising a bionic eye. These ceramic detectors are biocompatible also - they neither deteriorate the eye nor get themselves deteriorated. These detectors are thin films, grown through a technique called epitaxy, that is, growing it atom-by-atom and layer-by-layer on a background substrate. Such films have been found to have wonderful optical properties. Scientists first studied epitaxial film growth in the ultra-vacuum of space using the Wake Shield Facility (WSF) - a 12-foot diameter disk-shaped platform launched from the space shuttle.  Then they grew thin oxide films using atomic oxygen in low-Earth orbit as a natural oxidizing agent. All these experiments enabled them to develop the oxide (ceramic) detectors now being used for the bionic eye project. Also The ceramic detectors are individual, five-micron-size units (the exact size of cones) that allow nutrients to flow around them. Artificial retinas constructed at SVEC consist of 100,000 tiny ceramic detectors, each 1/20 the size of a human hair, attached to a polymer film one millimeter by one millimeter in size for handling properly - the polymer film dissolving of its own in the eye itself - placed on the retina through an incision in the white of the eye.  But scientists aren't yet certain how the brain will interpret the electrical signals sent by the bionic eye through the optic nerve, and what exact visual impressions it will translate to! I invite you to subscribe to my weekly E-zine titled Third Eye-zine. This weekly E-zine publishes rare, revolutionary articles which are of real use in the day-to-day life of a common man, covering topics concerning the effect of third eye opening on health, diseases, personality, performance, efficiency, relationship, sex, mind, creativity, passion, business, management, and energy level of a person; apart from its effect on vision correction. A not-to-be-missed opportunity! Subscribe to it here: I also invite you to subscribe to my Third Eye Blog - no need to provide your e-mail address here. This RSS feed keeps you informed about new developments taking place on this site. It also harbors my weekly Third Eye Bloglet narrating My Story : My Date with My Body - a bloglet about vision, mind, sex, science, and society. A real interesting reading! In order to subscribe to the blog, right-click on the orange RSS button (see buttons up to the left) and then paste the URL into your RSS reader. Or click on add to My Yahoo! button or My MSN or Add To Google button if you keep a personalized home page there. If you are not sure what RSS or blogging is all about, click on What's an RSS Feed? here:
Return from Bionic Eye to Eye Surgery
|
Blink
Del.icio.us
Digg
Furl
Google
Simpy
Spurl
Technorati
Y! MyWeb
