Doctors Complete First Successful Face and Whole-Eye Transplant (scientificamerican.com) 27
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Scientific American: This week doctors announced they had completed the first successful transplant of a partial face and an entire eye. In May at NYU Langone Health in New York City, the surgery was performed on a 46-year-old man who had suffered severe electrical burns to his face, left eye and left arm. He does not yet have vision in the transplanted eye and may never regain it there, but early evidence suggests the eye itself is healthy and may be capable of transmitting neurological signals to the brain. The feat opens up the possibility of restoring the appearance -- and maybe even sight -- of people who have been disfigured or blinded by injuries. Researchers caution there are many technical hurdles before such a procedure can effectively treat vision loss, however.
"I think it's an important proof of principle," says Jeffrey Goldberg, a professor and chair of ophthalmology at the Byers Eye Institute at Stanford University, who was not involved in the surgery but has been part of a team working toward whole-eye transplants in humans. "I think it points to the opportunity and importance that we really stand on the verge of being able to [achieve] eye transplants and vision restoration for blind patients more broadly."But he cautions that the main obstacle is achieving regeneration of the optic nerve, which carries visual signals from the retina to the brain; this step has not yet been successfully demonstrated in humans.
Scientists have been working toward whole-eye transplantation for many years. "This has been, I would say, science fiction for a long time," says Jose-Alain Sahel, a professor and chair of the department of ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, who has been working toward such transplants with Goldberg and others. Progress in surgical techniques and nerve regeneration have made this goal seem more attainable. [...] "The fact that this surgery was successful is wonderful news," Sahel says. He cautions that surgery is only a small part of the issues that need to be addressed in order to restore eye function, however. These include making sure the immune system doesn't reject the donor eye, which is a challenge with any type of transplant. Then the corneal nerve -- which carries sensory signals from the transparent part of the eye -- must be reconnected. Yet the most complex part is regenerating the optic nerve. In order to do so, surgeons have to coax the nerve fibers to grow to the right place, which Sahel says could take months or even years. And complete optic nerve regeneration has not yet been successfully achieved in humans or other mammals.
"I think it's an important proof of principle," says Jeffrey Goldberg, a professor and chair of ophthalmology at the Byers Eye Institute at Stanford University, who was not involved in the surgery but has been part of a team working toward whole-eye transplants in humans. "I think it points to the opportunity and importance that we really stand on the verge of being able to [achieve] eye transplants and vision restoration for blind patients more broadly."But he cautions that the main obstacle is achieving regeneration of the optic nerve, which carries visual signals from the retina to the brain; this step has not yet been successfully demonstrated in humans.
Scientists have been working toward whole-eye transplantation for many years. "This has been, I would say, science fiction for a long time," says Jose-Alain Sahel, a professor and chair of the department of ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, who has been working toward such transplants with Goldberg and others. Progress in surgical techniques and nerve regeneration have made this goal seem more attainable. [...] "The fact that this surgery was successful is wonderful news," Sahel says. He cautions that surgery is only a small part of the issues that need to be addressed in order to restore eye function, however. These include making sure the immune system doesn't reject the donor eye, which is a challenge with any type of transplant. Then the corneal nerve -- which carries sensory signals from the transparent part of the eye -- must be reconnected. Yet the most complex part is regenerating the optic nerve. In order to do so, surgeons have to coax the nerve fibers to grow to the right place, which Sahel says could take months or even years. And complete optic nerve regeneration has not yet been successfully achieved in humans or other mammals.
Borg (Score:2)
Doesn't get more Borg than that.
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I was thinking may as well go Borg instead, might be easier and more efficient. Anyway, I saw the dude on TV tonight and his face wasn't that messed up before the procedure as some faces I have seen before. Keep in mind the eye is a first and even the doctors say chances are slim he will ever be able to see with it but who knows?
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Doesn't get more Borg than that.
It's a transplant, not a prosthesis. So nothing to do with Borg.
Researchers have been working on visual prostheses for years though.
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Potato potahto, the eye doesn't work and won't, until they figure out nerves.
Re: Borg (Score:1)
Yes, especially given how much you contributed to the effort.
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> It's a transplant, not a prosthesis.
It is a conscious Borg choice to baby-step across the uncanny valley rather than leap across it.
People are not ready for cyborgs. No one likes having a camera pointed at them really.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/t... [nbcnews.com]
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As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. These doctors should practice this face transplant technique by ripping off the faces of jewish so-called people, ziotard trash, scum that are bankrolled or blackmailed by jew ziotrash, federal government pig scum, etc. and trying to "fix" this trash back up into a rough facsimile of what it once was. They could display their work for all of us to laugh at.
As a Gay Linux Dev, you should immediately go to a Muslim country and loudly proclaim your Sexual Orientation.
That will work out great for both of us.
Is this really new? (Score:2)
I thought I remembered seeing a documentary about this [imdb.com] 25 or so years ago.
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This is a good one too https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0... [imdb.com]
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Replacing eyes was a major plot point in Minority Report [imdb.com]
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You want to just take the face... off?
Re: Is this really new? (Score:1)
No more drugs for that man!
Misleading (Score:2)
It's just aesthetic, the implanted eye doesn't see anything
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Not Misleading to the Discerning (Score:2)
If you read the fine summary, that is explained in the third sentence.
The eye was in fact transplanted, and nobody said it provided sight, so there was no misleading information there except for people who make unfounded assumptions based on incomplete information.
Further, it is possible (though unlikely) that the eye will begin to produce some useful data to the brain. Partial nerve regeneration might make it at least light-sensitive.
Steve Austin (Score:2)
We can rebuild him.
Better.
Stronger.
Faster than before!
(Ok so not the same technology at all but I might be dead of old age before I can legitimately use that joke).
unlikely (Score:2)
The optic "nerve" is better considered as a tract of the brain, not a nerve. There are something like 200 million nerve fibers in it. The hope that this is going to connect a foreigner's nerve to yours in such a way as to restore sight is in all likelihood a pipe dream. You are more likely to succeed by finding a way to generate the eye in situ from stem cells.
Yeah, you can restore circulation and reattach muscles, but this optic nerve deal makes this seem like more of a publicity stunt. A glass eye is
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The hope that this is going to connect a foreigner's nerve to yours in such a way as to restore sight is in all likelihood a pipe dream.
Probably, yes. OTOH if you could generate enough connections the brain might well work out what to do with the signals. If this transplant continues to not reject we might find out.
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The hope that this is going to connect a foreigner's nerve to yours in such a way as to restore sight is in all likelihood a pipe dream.
Probably, yes. OTOH if you could generate enough connections the brain might well work out what to do with the signals. If this transplant continues to not reject we might find out.
Indeed.
Neuroplasticity might well extend down into these substructures.
Saving face? (Score:2)
Sorry, I just had to say it.
Gary Gilmore's Eyes (Score:2)
Obligatory: Gary Gilmore's Eyes. - The Adverts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Just a patch (Score:1)