Slanted Science

Reports are emerging today from a pilot investigation aimed at giving/restoring sight to the blind.

German surgeons claim they have successfully implanted microchips into the eyes of a 45-year old volunteer. The result: he was able to see well enough to find his way around and to read.

The work was carried out at the University of Tübingen, Germany. Dr Eberhart Zrenner, who led the surgical team, described how pleased he was with the insertion and subsequent success of the retinal implant:

With Miika, we can show that, with the help of the optical prosthesis, he has crossed the boundary beyond which he is no longer regarded as legally blind.

‘Miika‘ is the first name of the patient, a 45-year old Finnish man. The implant (which measured 3 x 3mm, and contained 1500 photocells) showed no adverse reactions once inside Miika, including inflammatory responses. Sadly for him, however, it was removed after only a few weeks; the researchers state that this is because of the university’s Medical Ethics Committee.

The company who manufactured this chip (‘Retina Implant; Dr Zrenner was its founder) has declared its intention to fit up to two dozen patients with permanent, wireless versions within the next year.

Don’t Hold Your Breath, But This May Lead To: a cure for blindness, did you not read the damn story? And a re-awakening of the old question: in Star Trek, why – when the Enterprise could manufacture hot tea from thin air – were Geordi LaForge‘s implants so cumbersome and so damned…external?

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