Mrs’s Carly’s retina is outfitted with a microchip able to transform pictures into electrical impulses.
Technology has raised even greater hopes when it comes to curing certain afflictions. Taking a look at the numbers, we can clearly see that there many who suffer from any number of eye diseases. Such is the case of a woman from Colorado, who lost her eyesight some time ago. But thanks to a crack-shot team of surgeon the woman from Colorado receives a bionic eye.
Using technological advances in order to cure eye-related diseases is not something new. Several eye-related surgical interventions depend on the use of artificial materials and technological marvels. So is the case with glaucoma, where the surgeon removes the damaged lens and replaces it with an artificial one.
For some time now, there have been various debates on whether the concept of bionics can be used in ophthalmology. Many are those who have agreed that certain conditions can be treated and managed by using fashioned optical devices. So was the case of Jamie Carly, a woman from Colorado, who underwent a novel surgical intervention.
According to her case file, Mrs. Carly lost her eye-sight 15 years ago due to an unusual macular degenerative disease called retinitis pigmentosa. Unfortunately, retinitis pigmentosa is an inherited disease and as it progresses it is capable of causing severe vision impairment. Usually, this occurs due to the fact that the rod photoreceptor cell, which are found in the retina, are undergoing a process of progressive degeneration.
The woman from Colorado receives a bionic eye after a surgical procedure that took more than 5 hours. She was scheduled for surgery in early November and the operation has been performed by the doctors from the University of Colorado.
During the said surgical intervention, the doctors outfitted Mrs. Carly’s retina with a specially designed microchip. This chip has the capability of capturing images of the outside world when it is paired with a special type of glasses which contain a camera. The camera captures an image and then expedites them to the microchip inside the retina. In turn, the little chip would transform the images into electrical signals which are relayed to Carly’s optical nerves.
Mrs. Carly’s surgery was deemed a success after she reported being able to see for the first time in 15 years. The device has various limitations, meaning that the images seen by Mrs. Carly are not quite pictures, but rather faint contours, shadows and outlines. But, according to her attending physicians, her eyesight will improve in time, when Carly’s brain will get used to interpreting the various signals received from the device.
According to the surgeon who performed this intervention, once refined, the procedure can be used in order to help other people with eye-related problems. Unfortunately, the device can only help those who suffer from RP and it is rather costly. Such an intervention costs roughly 120000 dollars.
Photo credits:www.wikipedia.org
