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Monday, September 26, 2005
Glasgow Image Detectors May Lead to Bionic Eye
Dr Keith Mathieson, from Glasgow University's Department of Physics and Astronomy is working towards a better understanding of how information is sent from the retina to the brain. Dr Mathieson is developing a microchip that will do the work of retinal cells and may one day give useable sight to people with retinal diseases.
The implant uses minute image detectors found in digital cameras to turn light into electrical signals, mimicking the function of retina cells. Attached to an array of tiny electrodes, the signals from the detector are sent to undamaged retina cells, which then send the information to the optic nerve and on to the brain.
Up until now, Mathieson's team have been testing their chips on retinal tissue grown in the laboratory. But they believe they have found a way of interfacing them with the biological tissue of the eye.
''Bionic eye' has potential to cure blindness', Scotland on Sunday, 11 September 2005.
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