Providing new hope with an artificial retina
From: Evaluation Engineering - 05/04/2014
By: Elizabet Persico

Ongoing research may help restore partial or full vision to people affected
by eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular
degeneration (AMD). Three schools are involved: the University of Southern
California, North Carolina State University, and the University of Utah.

The University of Utah's team is developing the technology for a system that
can provide partial sight by replacing the functionality of photoreceptor
cells, which convert light into an electrical signal that is passed to the
retinal cells. Although diseases such as AMD cause photoreceptors to slowly
degrade, other neural retinal cells continue to function.

Implanted in a patient's eye, the system includes a microchip, an antenna
that receives power and external signals, and an array that provides
electrical stimulation to the retina. The "eye" is an eyeglass-mounted
external camera that captures and processes images then uses a telemetry
system to send signals to the implanted device.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.evaluationengineering.com/guest-commentaries/providing-new-hope-with-an-artificial-retina.php

Links:
Gianluca Lazzi
http://faculty.utah.edu/u0035813-Gianluca_Lazzi/research/index.hml

Artificial Retina Research at the University of Utah Provides Hope for the Blind
http://www.home.agilent.com/agilent/editorial.jspx?cc=US&lc=eng&ckey=2298463

Gianluca Lazzi's Research
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~lazzi/research.html