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The revolutionary bionic chip that allows you to recover lost sight
Technology continues in its traditional course. The vast majority of technological advances seek, as far as possible, to solve people's health problems through revolutionary methods.
Such is the case of a bionic chip, which changed the life of a woman in the United Kingdom, who had lost sight in her left eye.
It is just a taste of everything that technology has in store for us in the near future. And that, in addition, fills us with hope in the face of the great diseases that continue to emerge and make human beings suffer.
What do we know about the bionic chip that restores sight?
The lucky protagonist of this story is an 88-year-old woman who lives in the United Kingdom, originally from the city of Dagenham.
It should be noted that the patient suffers from geographic atrophy, which is considered one of the most common degenerative diseases related to age.
Even data indicates that approximately 5 million people around the world suffer from this condition.
Therefore, for the mother of 7 children, it resulted in the loss of visibility in her left eye. In this way, she would become the ideal patient to test the new technology of the chip.
Indeed, the research was carried out by the NIHR Center for Biomedical Research, the NHS, as well as the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London.
For the manufacture of the chip, they had the support of the company Pixium Vision, located mainly in France.
It means, in short, a great advance in technology, but above all a ray of light for those who suffer from this disease.
How does it work?
Mainly, it proceeds with the surgical level implantation of a microchip with a size of approximately 2 mm.
Said chip must be specifically located in the central part of the retina so that, together with special lenses, it begins to work.
In this sense, the glasses precisely designed to work with the chip, have a built-in camera, also small. At the same time, it is also connected to a not so big computer, which is attached to a band on the waist.
Later, once the chip is inserted, it begins to capture images of its surroundings so that the information is then transmitted directly to the special lenses.
Also, for the glasses to start working, they must first provide the received data to the computer for translation. At this point, it is where the artificial intelligence acts for the processing of information in order to define the images in the lenses.
The best part for the patient during this entire procedure is when the information begins to be projected through the lenses.
In this way, in the form of infrared beams, the glasses transmit them through the eye until they reach the microchip. The lights are then eventually converted into electrical signals that travel through the cells of the retina to reach the brain.
Finally, the wonderful thing about the process is that the brain naturally interprets the signals to allow vision through the affected eye.
To consider
However, not everything is rosy. And it is that, since it is a meticulous procedure, it requires an adaptation period of at least 6 weeks from the insertion of the chip.
From there, it can be turned on. However, it will be followed by a learning and familiarization stage so that you can naturally master the bionic chip.
We must remember that it is still a procedure that is under study, so it remains to wait for its evaluation in the following months.
However, according to statements by the surgeon Mahi Muqit, from the Moorfields Eye Hospital, where the operation was performed, it is a great advance for medicine. Specifically he said:
"The success of this operation and the evidence gathered through this clinical study will provide the evidence to determine the true potential of this treatment".
