How many of you have heard about retinitis pigmentosa? It is an inherited disease that causes the degeneration of retina over time and a person with functional eyesight loses retinal performance over time and subsequently becomes totally blind within years. Carmen Torres is one of such patients who started to lose her sight when she was 18 years old.
She was declared officially blind at the age of 45 years and lost the hope of ever seeing again. Say hello to the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System that has benefited 100 people across the globe and given them the gift of sight again that was, for all practical purposes, considered lost forever.
This technology works by making use of a prosthetic and a signal receiving glasses that work in conjunction with one another. The glass captures the images of what is being seen via small camera that has been built into the framework. This image is then transferred to a tiny wearable computer that has also been incorporated into the glasses and subsequently transmits the image to the eye implant. Patients also have to undergo therapy for understanding these images that are transmitted via the eye implant. As per Torres, it is like learning a new language.
Torres is now able to see the stars in the sky at night as well – wonderfully engineered indeed! Check out the video below for more:
