'Solar panel' eye implant promises sight without wires

'Solar panel' eye implant promises sight without wires Tiny "solar panels" implanted into the eye could one day restore vision to the blind without the need for any ugly wires. Loudin hopes that this will create better resolution than in previous prostheses. Sensors on previous prostheses can't be stimulated individually, and are instead activated in bunches, limiting the resolution of the resulting image. This enables each pixel to be activated individually, similar to the way that biological photoreceptors work. To test the implant, the team removed retinas from dead rats whose photoreceptors had been destroyed. So along with Daniel Palanker and colleagues, Loudin set out to build a tiny wireless implant out of photovoltaic pixels - similar to those found in rooftop solar panels. Implants that profide real colour vision, Loudin says, are still a long way off. In a live animal, these neurons would then relay that information to the brain. The pixels converted the light into electrical energy which activated neurons within the retina. The idea is that a video camera set on a pair of glasses would pick up visual information and relay it to the photovoltaic implant using a beam of low-intensity infrared light. Several companies, such as Second Sight in Sylmar, California, have developed prosthetic retinas, some of that are currently in clinical trials. The implant effectively replaces the damaged photoreceptors. It is difficult to know just how similar the visual resolution would be compared with real vision, Loudin says. He says they are now testing their prosthesis in live rats with some success, and ultimately aim to move on to clinical trials in humans. 'Solar panel' eye implant promises sight without wires Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 14/05/2012