Chip Allows Blind People To See 231
crabel writes "3 blind people have been implanted with a retinal chip that allowed them to see shapes and objects within days of the procedure. From the article: 'One of the patients surprised researchers by identifying and locating objects on a table; he was also able to walk around a room unaided, approach specific people, tell the time from a clock face, and describe seven different shades of gray in front of him.'"
It's a miracle! (Score:3, Insightful)
Stories like these always make me think of how science, technology and development delivers so many of the things promised but undelivered by religion. This story, healing the sick and making the blind see again, is an actual, real miracle, and an awesome one at that. Religion, in contrast, offers only false hope and perhaps some comfort for unfulfilled promises and a harsh reality. And yet so many millions pin their hopes on imagined gods, not human spirit and ingenuity. It continues to baffle me.
Even the most extreme things promised by religion, eternal life and/or an immortal soul, might be deliverable in some form by science one day. We can certainly create a paradise for ourselves. Compared to how the people who first imagined today's religions lived, one could argue that many of us are already living in paradise (or some beta version of it at least) and it's within reach for every human on earth, regardless of religion, if we continue to produce our own miracles.
Impressive (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Blinding (Score:2, Insightful)
As someone who is partially color blind, and has taken the "paint pots" test, I can tell you that it effectively only affects shades of brown. In other words, colors that we don't normally have names for.
The paint pots test is where they put 30 or so 1 inch round thingies on the table with a color sample on top, and you have to arrange them in order of slightly changing color. There are two points around the circle where brownish colors will be the same for those with partial (protanomaly or deuteranomaly) color blindness, or at least that's how it went for whatever form I have. Two of them seemed identical to me, so I think I ended up making a lopsided figure eight.
And someone who has been blind all their life will have had that part of their brain repurposed to increase the other senses, and have no experience with eyesight, so they probably won't even be able to process the visual cues that let you easily identify depth in a photograph.
Re:This is actually pretty cool (Score:4, Insightful)
I recall seeing something like that (low-res BW "implants") at least 5 or more years ago. Someone was actually able to drive a car around a parking lot with one.
This just seems like a more advanced version, and unlike another poster, I think they should start implanting these now. Why make people wait for more trials? What's the worst that can happen? The person is already blind. This is one of the things that bothers me about the FDA; if people are willing to take the risks to get a "cure" now, they shouldn't be stopped.
But even still, once surgery to correct lens shape was allowed, that procedure really took off... it didn't take 50 years for it to become commonplace. Certainly this is more invasive, but once it's approved, I really doubt people will let that stand in the way... after all, people who were nearsighted could still see with corrective lenses, but now we're talking about people who can't see at all.
Yeah, yeah (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems like one researcher or another has been twiddling with technologies like this now and then as one-off's for literally DECADES now. Will it ever make it into an on-going clinic?
I got an "insightful" for my jaded disillusionment the last time /. reported on one of these experiments, what, maybe five years ago. Can I get another "insightful" for still being disillusioned that these "cool hacks" will ever see production?
Re:This is actually pretty cool (Score:5, Insightful)
I think they should start implanting these now. Why make people wait for more trials? What's the worst that can happen? The person is already blind.
Well, I'm a complete noob when it comes to medical stuff, but I can think of three things:
Re:This is actually pretty cool (Score:2, Insightful)
You are extrapolating linearly.
For reference, 50 years ago integrated circuits were still brand new.
Correct, evidence from cochlear implants (Score:2, Insightful)
For people having been born blind, this sort of research might eventually help, but this would take all the visual stimulation and training that a small child gets as well, with brains that are not that of a small child, so will take a long time to adapt, unfortunately.
Right. Kids who receive cochlear implants at very young ages (best before 5, preferably around 1) and are enrolled in schools mostly focused on speech and hearing (rather than sign) tend to show dramatic results. Most of these kids are mainstreamed into their local school districts in the kindergarten/first/second grades with limited (if any) instructional support. Using the phone with no assistance is pretty typical.
People, like my wife, who are pre-lingually deaf and receive cochlear implants later in life don't fare nearly as well. The language centers of the brain have developed and you've missed the window for dramatic gains. They still help, but she'll always need captions and alternatives to the phone.