Science has always provided mankind with answers and solutions, and science will continue to do so, while simultaneously supplying us with improvements upon previous technologies or new technologies altogether. Today, humanity owes the majority of our commodities, from prosthetic limbs to iPods, to years of scientific research and collaboration between different scientific disciplines. Unfortunately, however much science may have contributed to improving our lives, there is still plenty of headway to be made.

According to the National Eye Institute age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness and vision loss in Americans of fifty-five years of age and older, affecting more than 1.75 million individuals. This number is projected to rise to more than 3 million people by the year 2020. Retinitis pigmentosa is another widespread ocular condition. Worldwide, 1.5 million people are inflicted with a form of this genetic disorder that results in loss of vision and sometimes complete blindness. (www.nei.nih.gov)
Scientists and engineers, across every field, are working together on groundbreaking research that will change the world and redefine what was previously thought possible by technology and medicine. These trailblazers of the future are developing a variety of bionic eyes that will inevitably be a part of many people’s everyday lives. Currently, bionic eyes that are in development fall under four basic categories:

Visual Prosthetics

The BrainPort vision device is a non-surgical assistive visual prosthetic that translates information from a digital video camera to the tongue through gentle electrical stimulation. This revolutionary invention consists of a base unit, a head-mounted camera, a hand-held controller, and an electrode array the size of a postage stamp that would sit on top of the tongue. The system works by collecting visual information through the camera and instantaneously relaying that information to the base unit, which converts it into an electrical pattern that is then displayed on the tongue via the electrode array.A tactile “image” is then created using varying electrical stimulation. White pixels are represented by strong stimulation, grey pixels as medium stimulation, and black pixels as no stimulation. This may seem painful, but on the contrary it is not. Blind participants have described the sensation as feeling like champagne bubbles effervescing on the tongue. BrainPort’s system is analogous to reading Braille, and requires a certain amount of training to be able to effectively operate the device. Participants of research for BrainPort have been able to orient themselves and identify where in space stimulation arises (up, down, left, right) after only minutes of training (www.wicab.us).

A similar device, called the vOICe system, operates in a manner similar to that of the BrainPort device. The vOICe system (“OIC” is capitalized to stand for “Oh, I see”) is compromised of a camera that can be mounted on a hat, helmet, or glasses, along with a base unit that also processes the visual information received from the camera. Unlike the BrainPort system, this information is not transferred to the tongue, but rather to the ears. The processing base unit translates the visual images into sounds that are fed to the user through stereo headphones. With training and time, the user of the vOICe system comes to associate sounds with images and motion. Neuroscience research has shown that sound can activate the visual cortex of the brain of the blind; this concept is the focal point behind the vOICe system. Over time the brain accepts the auditory data for visual data, and although the subjective impression is much less detailed than regular vision, for the blind it is a major step out the dark (www.seeingwithsound.com).

Retinal Implants

In a healthy eye, rods and cones in the retina convert light into tiny electrochemical impulses that are sent to the brain through the optic nerve that is connected at the very back of the eyeball. The brain then decodes these impulses into the sights that we register. If the retina is damaged and does not function properly (due to conditions like retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration) then the brain cannot receive this information. This is where retinal implants come into play. Unlike vOICe and BrainPort, retinal implants require surgery to embed a miniature device into the eye. Most retinal implants do the job of the rods and cones by receiving information from a digital camera and then conveying this information to the optic nerve, which leads to the brain. Commonly the information from the camera is transmitted wirelessly to the retinal implant, i.e. through radio waves. In a more advanced approach, microphotodiodes are placed directly onto the retinal implant. Microphotodiodes serve almost as miniature solar cells that generate electricity when stimulated by light, eliminating the need for a camera and an external battery source. Yet, the most challenging aspect of developing a functioning retinal implant network is wiring the implant into the nervous system (www.news.bbc.co.uk ; www.itotd.com).

Brain Implants

These retinal implants however, are dependent on the optic nerve and functioning retinal nerves, which could raise complications. For example, how would this system work on a person whose optic nerve was damaged rather than the retinal nerves? What if the person was born blind and the optic nerve has never been used and thus rendered useless? As a result, alternatives to the retinal implants have emerged. As of now, a more complicated solution is in its experimental stage. This alternative involves implanting electrodes into the brain to directly stimulate the brain’s visual cortex. Implanting electrodes into the brain is difficult and aside from the obvious challenges of brain surgery, this procedure is complex because extensive testing is required to determine which electrodes should fire off to stimulate the visual cortex. Presently, this procedure has been performed very few times and, as far as brain surgery goes, is relatively safe (www.web.achive.org).

Advanced Optical Enhancements

Exploring optical technologies has benefits aside from returning vision to the blind; bionic lenses are being developed with a bit of a science-fiction purpose in mind. At the University of Washington a bionic contact lens has brought Hollywood technology to life. An electronic contact lens has been developed that will enable maps and videos to be beamed before the wearer’s eyes. The lens is a prototype that has microscopic circuits affixed to a flexible plastic and embedded with LEDs to display information. It has a built-in antenna that will both harvest energy from radio waves and allow for wireless Internet. Although the device is in essence very basic, Babak Parviz, the electrical engineer behind the project plans for more sophisticate components. Hopefully, the final product will be a great asset to the pilots, drivers, and the military. Eventually the bionic lens might be able to provide computer-aided vision and display essential information, speed and direction for example, or even a zoom function (www.telegraph.co.uk).

Technology has advanced tremendously, even in the past decade and it is amazing to think of what is to come. With this surge of innovation we are forced to look at not only how science has given rise to our technology but the inventiveness of the human race. Bionics are establishing the foundation for tomorrow's technologies, leaving us eager for what will come next.