On-Demand Injection Molding: 3D Printed Assistive Devices for the Blind
From: Medical Design Briefs - 05/2017

Helping blind people gain a sense of vision - and doing so through their
tongues - sounds like pure science fiction. It's now a reality, however,
thanks to the BrainPort V100 - a wearable medical device that enables users
to process visual images with their tongues. Users say the effect is like
having "streaming images drawn on their tongue with small bubbles," according
to Wicab, the BrainPort’s Wisconsin-based maker. That comes from the
vibrations or tingling that users feel on the surface of their tongue as
information about their environment — captured by a small video camera on the
BrainPort headset — gets converted into patterns of electronic stimulation
through a small, electrode-embedded mouthpiece. Users can learn to gauge the
size, shape, and location of objects and whether they're moving based on
those patterns.

Read the entire article at:
http://npi-med.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/MAY2017-ISSUE-Medical-Design-Briefs.pdf
(pages 40 - 41)

Links:
BrainPort V100
http://www.wicab.com/brainport-v100

Proto Labs
https://www.protolabs.com