Bionic Cat Eye Implants Aid Blindness Research 94
docinthemachine writes with news of felines getting human retinal implants. The cats were afflicted with a version of retinitis pigmentosa, a disease that also blinds humans. The implants are 2-millimeter-wide chips surgically implanted in the back of eye. Each chip's surface is covered with 5,000 microphotodiodes that react to light, sending electric signals along the eye's optic nerve to the brain. The article makes clear that the implants don't allow the cats to see — what they get is impulses of light. The hope is that the electrical activity in the optic nerve will encourage new retinal cells to grow. The article notes: "The chips, which provide their own energy, have shown encouraging results in clinical human trials, in some cases improving sight in people with retinitis pigmentosa or at least slowing the disease's development. Narfstrom said chips have been implanted in 30 people."
Morals (Score:5, Funny)
-Peter
The Collective (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Backwards? (Score:5, Funny)
Oblig (Score:2, Funny)
Ob. Seinfeld (Score:5, Funny)
Vet: The is squirrel is badly hurt. it will require about $10,000 worth of surgery, plus we have to fly in a special set of instruments from Switzerland.
George: i see. How much to put the thing down?
Vet: About 65 cents.
George: hmm..
* Georges girlfriend shoots him the evil eye *
George: Um...just asking
Maybe I don't get it, but there are hundreds of sighted cats that are put down every day in shelters around the US. How about giving your blind cat the gift of mercy and adopting a new cat?
NOTE: Poster may be bitter about (1) having a finance whose apartment is infested with a cat and (2) being allergic to the damn things.
Re:Morals (Score:3, Funny)
We test this out on PeTA members.
I'll go get the corkscrews, you get the doctors to put these in.
Schroedinger's Obligatory Cat Reference (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Ob. Seinfeld (Score:2, Funny)
Well then you should have talked her into just shacking up; and if you think you're allergic now, just wait until she becomes a wife.
KFG
Re:The Collective (Score:3, Funny)
"Resistance is... Oooh! A peice of yarn!" *pounce* -Cat Borg
The $6 million cat (Score:1, Funny)
Oh, and by the way, Fluffy says you can forget about feeding her any more dry food.