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Virtual Worldlets Resource Listing The Argus devices, created by Second Sight Inc, are ocular implants designed to restore vision to those whose eyes no-longer function. For people whose sight loss occured as a result of outer retinal degenerations, such as Retinitis Pigmentosa, they offer a chance to see again, via arrays of electrodes connected to the back of the eye and the optic nerve. |
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News: February 2007: New Bionic Eye System is Approved for Trial A new bionic eye system, for improving the vision in failing or failed eyes has been given the go-ahead in the US, for field trials. The Argus II system uses a camera mounted on glasses to feed visual information to electrodes in the eye. These electrodes then stimulate the retina directly, to send electrical pulses to the brain, matching the normal viewed image. News: March 2007: Better 'bionic eye' offers new hope of restored vision Bionic vision enhancers ? which typically work by a brain-computer interface chip placed over the retina of the eye ? have themselves been enhanced, with a new design of bionic eye. The bionic eye implant Argus II uses a camera mounted on glasses to feed visual information to electrodes in the eye. These electrodes then stimulate the retina directly, to send electrical pulses to the brain, matching the normal viewed image. News: April 2008: Bionic Eye Clears Clinical Trials The Second Sight artificial eye has been implanted in its first patients at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, UK. News: March 2009: Bionic eye gives blind man sight A man who lost his sight 30 years ago says he can now see flashes of light after being fitted with a bionic eye. Ron, 73, had the experimental surgery seven months ago at London's Moorfield's eye hospital. News: October 2009: A Brighter Future for Retinal Implants The latest generation of retinal implants has shown striking promise in tests involving a handful of blind patients. The implants have enabled many subjects to recognize objects and obstacles and given one person the ability to read large print. Such advances mark a turning point after decades of slow progress. And experts now say that commercial devices are just a couple of years away. VR Interfaces: The Argus 16 Implant - or - Argus 1 The first Argus implant was known as the Argus 16, because it consisted of sixteen electrodes attached to the back of the retina in the eye. Created by Second Sight Incorporated as a means of restoring sight to the blind, the Argus device was actually a complex little arrangement of interconnected devices. VR Interfaces: Argus 2 The Argus 2 implant is the successor to Argus 1. Both were created by the same company, Second Sight. Both were created for the same purpose: To restore sight to the blind. Where Argus 2 offers improvement over its predecessor is that Argus 1 could only offer 16 electrodes in a 4 x 4 array. In the same area on the back of the retina, Argus 2 offers 60 electrodes in a 10 x 6 array. |