[PHOTO] The infrared gadget that could let the blind see

Goggles that could help the blind see have come a step closer to reality.

The technology is based on a technique known as 'neuromodulation' in which electricity from a chip stimulates the nervous system to restore sight.

The revolutionary system is being commercialised by French company Pixium Vision, with clinical trials scheduled for 2016.
Retinal implants that restore some sight when in the blind are already available, but their quality isn't good enough to work in many real-world conditions.

Pixium Vision's solution, however, claims it has been able to restore the sight of.....
rats to a level equivalent to 20/250.

This would allow the wearer to see the largest line of letters in an opticians test.

The company claims it may be able to get its final product to restore vision to 20/120, which would be a huge leap forward in vision quality.

Second Sight, the company that got FDA approval for the first visual prosthesis two years ago, currently offers patients about 20/1300 vision.

To use the gadget a surgeon must first implant a small silicon chip with 150 electrodes on the retina.

When the patient puts on the system's dark glasses, an integrated video camera sends images to a portable computer.

A connected 'pocket processor' converts that recording into an infrared image, which the goggles will then beam into the eye.

Pulses activate the electrodes in the implant, and the optic nerve carries the images back to the brain.

Following surgery, patients have to train their brains to interpret the new images, which are seen in variations of back, white and grey.

A small pilot program to test the system is already underway, with promising results.

'We don't give them back their sight, but another way of seeing,' Yannick Le Mer, the surgeon who implanted the system in three of Pixium's test subjects told Forbes.

A new trial of the system is due to begin next year by Australia’s Bionic Vision. The cost for the system is expected to be around 100,000 euros (£72,000 or $111,200), plus surgery.

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