Artificial Vision: Can Brain Implants Make the Blind See?
Once upon a time the idea of artificial vision was nothing more than science fiction. Colonel Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man, had his bionic eye. Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge had his special visors that allowed him to see, although not in the way a normal person sees.
Artificial vision is now starting to become a reality, if slowly. Like the visor of Geordi La Forge, this artificial vision does not allow the blind to see as we might expect them to, but it gives them vision in a totally new if limited capacity.
A Camera, a Brain Implant and a Computer
In the year 2000 it was revealed that a man identified only as Jerry had the first functional electronic eye. In tests he was able to pick up a black hat from a white wall and subsequently place the hat on the head of a mannequin. He recognized a two inch tall letter E lying on its back from a distance of five feet. He was also able to navigate a New York subway with the assistance of his artificial vision.
Jerry, who was one of the first two subjects to receive the brain implants in 1978, successfully demonstrated that this limited artificial vision could serve as an aid to the blind. Never before had such a feat been accomplished.
His artificial implants do not give him anything like what we normally conceive of as vision. Jerry sees up to a hundred points of light (called posphenes), displayed against a black background. Its appearance has been likened to a field of stars in the night sky or the lights which are displayed on an electronic scoreboard.
Using this visual information Jerry is able to navigate his surroundings (if cautiously) and discern certain physical objects, as displayed in the testing results.
In order to achieve this feat Jerry sports a pair of sunglasses. On one the left lens of the glasses is an ultrasonic receptor, used to gauge distance. On the right lens is a tiny video camera. The data obtained by the glasses is then sent to a computer worn on his back. The computer processes the data then sends the information to 68 electrodes implanted in the brain at the back of the skull. All in all the apparatus weighs about 10 pounds.
There is one other limitation to the apparatus. As of now only those who once had their sight are able to successfully receive the procedure. Those who were born blind cannot undergo the process as the brain implants will not be able to work.
This device for the development of artificial vision was developed and pioneered by Dr. William Dobelle, a specialist in artificial organs from New York. He patented his first artificial body part: an artificial hip, with his father when he was only 13 years old.
Although through the years he worked on a number of artificial body parts and aids through the years: including hiccup suppressors, spinal cord stimulators and pacemakers, the true passion of Dobelle remained artificial vision until his death in 2004. Although unfortunately passed on many scientists throughout the world have begun to pick up where he left off to continue his quest for the creation of artificial vision.
The Second Generation of Artificial Vision
After the successful tests of his electrodal brain implants with Jerry in 2000, Dobelle began to work to make his project commercially available. This began in 2002, when eight patients came to him in Portugal to receive the experimental implants.
One of these eight patients, Canadian Jans Naumann, became the focus of an international media spotlight on the Dobelle’s procedures and the idea of artificial vision. Journalists were allowed to watch as the electrodes were implanted into Naumann’s brain. He even demonstrated a limited test on a closed course where he was shown driving an automobile using his new artificial implants.
Although Dobelle worked greatly to improve upon his technology, the basics of Naumann’s brain implants and artificial vision apparatus remain the same as that of Jerry’s. At first he could see little more than patches of light on either side of his vision. As time passed his brain became used to the new senses, and he was better able to decipher what he was seeing. The technology requires time and effort as the patient gets use to the new feeling and interpreting the dots into useable data.
The process as it stands is not an inexpensive one. In 2002 when the process first went commercial costs ranged about $80,000. The16th and latest recipient of the surgery, Cheri Robertson, was charged about $120,000. Part of the cost includes traveling to Portugal where Dr. Dobelle worked: as of now the process is illegal in the United States. Scientists and doctors are hoping this will change within the next few years.
This work has not created a complete artificial replacement for vision. Far far from it. However scientists working on artificial vision hope that their electrodal brain implants will completely erase the need for braille and seeing eye dogs by the end of the 21st century.
