ARTIFICIAL RETINA

SHEDS NEW LIGHT

PRESENTED BY
CH.JYOTHSNA
ECE(4/4)
CJITS,JANGAON
Chintalapati_jyothsna@yahoo.co.in
 ABSTRACT
• In this paper I describe the need for artificial retina and the current version of
artificial retina and the future expectations.

• For those millions of us whose vision isn't perfect, there are glasses. But for those
hundreds of thousands who are blind, devices that merely assist the eyes just aren't enough.
What they need are alternative routes by which the sights of the world can enter the brain
and be interpreted.

• There are 25 million people across the globe, including 6 million Americans, who
are blind or severely visually impaired by diseases such as age-related macular
degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP), both of which destroy the cells that
allow light to be translated into recognizable images. By 2020, that figure is expected to
double, creating a virtual vision-loss epidemic.It is this current need, as well as the future
threat, to create the artificial retina project.

• The artificial retina could help those blinded by age-related macular degeneration
or retinitis pigmentosa where neural wiring from the eye to brain is intact, but the eyes lack
photoreceptor activity.

• In this paper I describe the need for artificial retina and the current version of
artificial retina and the future expectations.
 CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. HOW RETINA WORKS?
3. CAUSES FOR BLINDNESS
4. WAYS TO GET BACK THE ORIGINAL SIGHT
5. HOW ARTIFICIAL RETINA WORKS?
6. EXPECTATIONS IN FUTURE
7. CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION:
 Although he is blind, he sees everything. He wears special glasses capable of
transmitting optical signals directly to the brain. Science or Fiction?
Beeep, beeep, beeep. Your eyes pop open and scan the table for the alarm clock. Time to
get up. Where are your slippers? There they are, flung under the chair. Next you head to
the kitchen. Another search begins for the coffee. Aha! You spot the beans behind the
filters.
Start again. This time, keep your eyes closed. Even the simplest tasks will provide a
steep challenge.
Seeing is a complicated process. First, light falls onto the retina's optical cells, which
transform it into electrical impulses. The signals are sent via the optical nerve to the
brain, where a complicated process results in the images we see. Just one broken link in
this chain of events means the person can no longer see-s/he is blind.

HOW RETINA WORKS?

Here is a simple explanation of what happens when you look at an object:
• Scattered light from the object enters through the cornea
• The light is projected onto the retina.
• The retina sends messages to the brain through the optic nerve.
• The brain interprets what the object is.

The anatomy of the eye

The retina is complex in itself. This thin membrane at the back of the eye is a vital part of
your ability to see. Its main function is to receive and transmit images to the brain. These
are the three main types of cells in the eye that help perform this function:

• Rods
• Cones
• Ganglion Cells

There are about 125 million rods and cones within the retina that act as the eye's
photoreceptors. Rods are the most numerous of the two photoreceptors, outnumbering
cones 18 to 1. Rods are able to function in low light (they can detect a single photon) and
can create black and white images without much light. Once enough light is available (for
example, daylight or artificial light in a room), cones give us the ability to see color and
detail of objects. Cones are responsible for allowing you to read this article, because they
allow us to see at a high resolution.
CAUSES FOR BLINDNESS
There are a number of retinal diseases that attack these cells, which can lead to blindness.
The most notable of these diseases are
1.retinitis pigmentosa
2.age-related macular degeneration.
Both of these diseases attack the retina, rendering the rods and cones inoperative, causing
either loss of peripheral vision or total blindness. However, it's been found that neither of
these retinal diseases affect the ganglion cells or the optic nerve. This means that if
scientists can develop artificial cones and rods, information could still be sent to the brain
for interpretation.
HOW ARTIFICIAL RETINA WORKS?
• The tiny self-contained chip, slightly larger than the head of a pin, is surgically
implanted just below the retina on the back of the eye. It gets its power by the light entering
the eye.
• The chip contains about 3,500 microscopic solar cells that are designed to convert
light energy into thousands of electrical impulses. These signals stimulate the intact,
functional cells of the retina in patients with cell damage caused by macular degeneration
and retinitis pigmentosa. This stimulation induces biological visual signals in the "good"
retina tissue. The nerve fiber on the retina can then do its job of sending these electrical
signals to the brain, via the optic nerve.
• One possible system would detect images in a video camera mounted on a pair of
Eyeglasses (1). Next, the images would be converted into specially patterned electrical
signals that wirelessly transmit to a computer chip implanted in the retina area (2). The chip
then would stimulate the remaining healthy portions of the retina and visual pathway and, if
all goes well, produce the perception of an image in the brain the retina and visual pathway
and, if all goes well, produce the
Image.

• Like in a healthy eye, light bundled by the lens will initially penetrate the inner
retina layers, there to hit the tiny photo-diodes. The scientists imagine that this is where an
electrical current will be generated which will stimulate the nerve cells.

.
EXPECTATIONS IN FUTURE

The prototype implants contain 16 electrodes, allowing patients to detect the presence or
absence of light. The artificial retina project's "next generation" device would have
1,000electrodes and hopes to allow the user to see images.

Tiny telescope implant. Part of cataract replacement lens

Experimental drugs to restore vision; not so fast, say doctors
Artificial retina. In University research.
Bionic eye. FDA looking at a chip implant
When double vision is good. A heads-up concept.
Wiring to the brain bypasses optical nerve
Super-glasses for better than 20/20 vision.

CONCLUSION
To date, six volunteers have received implants of a micro-electronic device that rests on the
surface of the retina to perform the function of normal photoreceptive cells. Artificial retina
research began with Mark Humayun, then at Johns Hopkins University. The first human
trial of Second Sight's artificial retina has been running since 2002, and it has enabled a
formerly blind patient to distinguish between objects such as cups and plates, and even to
make out large letters. But with only 16 electrodes, the device does not allow the patient to
see a clear picture. For that, thousands of electrodes are needed on the same size of chip,
making it even more delicate.

TODAY, THE ASR MICROCHIP IS STILL BEING STUDIED IN CLINICAL TRIALS

AND IS NOT AVAILABLE COMMERCIALLY.

Optobionics hopes to have this procedure available to patients within 5 years. Right now,
the ASR(artificial silicon retina) is designed to let the user make out rough shapes in
shades of black and white. Higher quality, better resolution, and even color are possible
in the future;