Solar panels could soon be placed inside our eyes; that is all they do
The fight against blindness has been going on for thousands of years. Progressive vision loss is something that has always accompanied the world, along with congenital blindness, and it is a serious problem for us. Over time, improvements in optics and other knowledge have greatly improved these aspects, but there is still a long way to go to eliminate it. Now, a scientific team will work on a new way to stimulate our retinas so that we can regain our sight.
A team of engineers from the University of New South Wales in Australia is currently developing a prototype retinal implant that could restore sight to people who have lost all or part of their sight, they announced on the university's blog.
The device the team is developing uses solar panels to generate electricity. This energy will be sent to the brain to generate vision through the optic nerve.
The idea they put forward is based on the concept of neural prosthetics, technological devices that allow interaction with the nervous system and allow the restoration of lost functions. The interesting thing about this bet compared to traditional prosthetics is that it does not replace a part of the body, but rather the idea is to serve as a link between the neurons and the organ.
In this particular case, an eye implant could be a solution for people with degenerative diseases that slowly but steadily affect the photoreceptor cells in the retina. The examples they gave are diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa or age-related macular degeneration. A good example of this type of disease is the case of a woman who lost her sight due to excessive use of her cell phone and who was found to have damaged her retina.
It is therefore a completely different bet from gene therapies, for example, which give good results in aspects such as deafness.
Instead of trying to create new photoreceptor cells, the researchers considered a different approach: replacing them with another system that performs the same function. So they decided to use solar panels to convert incoming light into electrical pulses that are sent directly to the optic nerve.
To do this, they would need to stack three solar cells on top of each other, so that they could generate enough voltage to stimulate the brain. All this in a small size, of course. So they want it to cover an area of about two square millimeters.
short:
A team of engineers from the University of New South Wales in Australia will develop a prototype retinal implant to restore vision.
The device will use solar panels to convert sunlight into electricity.
- It is a neuroprosthetic device, that is, a kind of technological addition so that the newly installed device interacts with the nervous system and allows vision to be restored.
- It can be used to treat diseases in which photoreceptor cells slowly degenerate, such as retinitis pigmentosa or macular degeneration.
- Instead of creating new cells, the solar panels simply convert incoming light into electrical impulses that are sent to the optic nerve.
Three solar cells are needed to get enough voltage to send to the brain, which must cover an area of 2 square millimeters.
Users of this treatment may need to wear glasses to amplify sunlight to help stimulate the nerve cells in the eye.