FDA Approves Telescopic Bionic Eye Implant
The FDA has approved a telescopic eye implant that aids the visually impaired.
The FDA Tuesday announced that it had approved a telescopic eye implant that can help the visually impaired. The procedure involves removing the lens of the eye completely and replacing it with the now FDA-approved implant, which is capable of magnifying things by 2.2-2.7 times.
The implant is aimed at elderly people (over the age of 75) with macular degeneration, a condition that results in a loss of vision in the center of the visual field because of retinal damage. Created by VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies, the telescope projects images in your field of view onto healthy areas of your central retina outside of the degenerated macula. The image is enlarged, which reduces the effect the blind spot has on central vision.
While VisionCare promises that people with the implant will be able to move their eye naturally, they do warn that peripheral vision on that side will be affected. It's for this reason that a patient can't have the telescope implanted into both eyes. The FDA also said that patients will need to undergo rehab to get used to using their new bionic eye in tandem with their untreated eye. There's also the possibility that because of the size of the device, patients may need a corneal transplant.
Clinical trials involving 219 patients resulted in vision improvement (from severe or profound impairment to moderate impairment) for 75 percent of the participants.
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waiting for that droid eye...
seriously, this is good news for the affected people.
Wow. Does it take picture and wireless send the image to the receiver? How about x-ray maybe in the future? Cool.
Will this cure blindness?
How much is the transplant?
Get the new Sniper-Eye TODAY!
He is the new 6-million dollar man.
That's gotta be rather disorienting with one eye at normal 1x zoom and the other at 2.2-2.7 zoom.
It would be nice to get to the point of advancement shown in Ghost in the Shell though.
wont be long now before we have the laforge visor.
[citation]Clinical trials involving 219 patients resulted in vision improvement (from severe or profound impairment to moderate impairment) for 75 percent of the participants.[/citation]
I feel bad for the 25% that have a useless chunk of technology stuck in their otherwise bad or less than good eye.
Wow only for for people 75 and older? What the HELL IS THE USE THEN? Why waste millions or billions of dollars on some old farts that might croak the day after they get the implants?
This is nice, I have a grandfather who could use that, but I'm sure he'd rather wait till they have something nicer.
Just give it time and this tech will be available for all
I can't wait till I can get bionic eyes.
If it magnifies things about 2.5x does that mean they'll have to make the resolution of the next iphone4 2.5x higher to keep with the whole retinal marketing spiel?
Ghost in the shell here we come
Wow only for for people 75 and older? What the HELL IS THE USE THEN? Why waste millions or billions of dollars on some old farts that might croak the day after they get the implants?
Spoken like a true health care rationing socialist.
I was expecting that we'd see the Geordi La Forge VISOR for a few decades before upgrading to bionic implants.
Starfleet must have a really crappy health insurance plan.
Doctor: We can help you see what's in front of you again!
Patient:
Doctore: But there's a catch, you won't be able to see whats beside you, you might need to replace your eye, your going to have to go to rehab, oh and there's a 25% chance it won't help.
Patient:
Meh, personally, I'll wait for actual zoom lenses that I can control at my discretion
another fine made Israeli product
we rule
Wow only for for people 75 and older? What the HELL IS THE USE THEN? Why waste millions or billions of dollars on some old farts that might croak the day after they get the implants?
You'll change your mind when you're 75 with eye problems, but have many more years ahead. Of course, they might have many more advancements in the 65 years until you reach that age.
Wow only for for people 75 and older? What the HELL IS THE USE THEN? Why waste millions or billions of dollars on some old farts that might croak the day after they get the implants?
Hey, ignorant, it said 'aimed at'. Is it me or do a large part of my generation read things wrong on purpose? Or can we just not read?
"The implant is aimed at elderly people" ???
How much does this cost? it sounds expensive.
Just glorified tech to serve filthy rich old people. I'll believe in it after it comes to the third world countries
He is the new 6-million dollar man.
Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology.
can it see through cloth
No more having to buy sniper scopes in Crysis Power Struggle! Yay!
starfleet healthcare isnt that bad. remember geordi is a boomer. born offworld in space his physiology is hyper sensitive to nerve operations. they'd have to completely reconstruct up to brain not a good idea.plus he reads alot. fatigue
better...stronger...faster.
The funny thing about that is that the patients of over 75 will live for another couple of years anyway and this operation will drain their pockets before that.
Anyway! The good thing is that the elderly rich people will be the Guinea pigs to test the technology that our internet-porn-watching-and-console-game-playing generation will need so much so very soon.
But how much Essence does it cost? (now that's old)
This is nice, I have a grandfather who could use that, but I'm sure he'd rather wait till they have something nicer.
The problem with waiting is you could be dead by then.
That's gotta be rather disorienting with one eye at normal 1x zoom and the other at 2.2-2.7 zoom.It would be nice to get to the point of advancement shown in Ghost in the Shell though.
You may be surprised at how our brains can adapt to things like this. A friend had some "bifocal" contacts that corrected one eye for close up and the other for distance. I imagine the biggest problem there was depth perception, but his brain automatically selected the best eye for the clearest vision.