From: Spudboy100@aol.com
Date: Wed May 08 2002 - 22:48:11 MDT
Bionic Retina Gives Six Patients Partial Sight
<A HREF="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020508/hl_nm/eyes_bionic_1tp://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&
u=/nm/20020508/hl_nm/eyes_bionic_1</A>
Wed May 8,10:30 AM ET By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - They're not as
fast as Lee Majors' Bionic Man, but six patients implanted with bionic
retinas are seeing things they haven't seen in years.
Thanks to an artificial silicon retina, the six patients, many of whom were
virtually blind, are rediscovering simple gifts of the sighted: the flight of
a flock of geese, the pattern on a well-worn tablecloth, the face of a loved
one. The patients are part of a pilot study of a solar-powered microchip
created by Optobionics, a private company based in Wheaton, Illinois.
The microchips, surgically implanted behind the retina, are smaller than the
head of a pin and about half the thickness of a sheet of paper. They work by
converting light into electrical impulses. "What we are doing is trying to
replace the function of photoreceptors," said Dr. Alan Chow, a pediatric
ophthalmologist and chief operating officer of Optobionics. He developed the
chip with his brother Vincent Chow, an electrical engineer. Loss of
light-sensing photoreceptor cells occurs in retinitis pigmentosa and macular
degeneration, the two most common causes of untreatable blindness in
developed countries, affecting at least 20 million people worldwide.
What Dr. Chow found is that the chips also seem to be stimulating remaining
healthy cells. "We're pretty excited. We initially expected only some light
perception where the implant was. What seems to be improvement outside the
areas was unexpected," he said. 'RESCUE EFFECT' He said the device is having
a "rescue effect" on the retina, restoring cells located near the implant
site. "What we think is happening is the implant is stimulating other cells
around the retina. We're finding vision is improving not just where the
implant is but also in areas near the implant," he said. Chow is presenting
his results later on Wednesday at the Association for Research in Vision and
Ophthalmology annual meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The trial includes
three patients implanted with the chips for 9 months and three implanted for
21 months. Patients range in age from 45 to 76. All had lost their vision to
retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary condition in which the retina gradually
degenerates.
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