Camera helps blind people regain sight
A company's vision restoration system for the blind, consisting of a camera and electrodes in the eye, is being tested in the US and Europe.
Argus II, the name of the vision restoration system for the blind, is an invention of the company Second Sight in California, USA. Each one is sold for 100,000 USD. The system includes 60 electrodes implanted in the user's eyes, a camera with a signal transmitting function mounted on the glasses, AFP reported.
The Argus II works like this: A camera on the glasses captures images in front of the user and converts them into electrical signals. The electrical signals are then transmitted from the camera to an array of electrodes in the user's eyes.
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Sixteen have just been licensed for use in Europe. Sixteen are being tested in the US. Among the users is Elias Konstantopoulos, a 72-year-old former electrician.
Born in Greece, Konstantopoulos came to the United States as a young man and became an electrician. At age 43, Konstantopoulos found he could no longer see his arms if they were extended beyond his shoulders. When he visited an ophthalmologist, the electrician was told that his peripheral vision was gradually fading.
Doctors said Konstantopoulos had retinitis pigmentosa. This genetic, incurable disease affects about 100,000 Americans. People with the disease gradually lose the rods and cones—the two types of light-sensitive cells—in their retinas until they become completely blind.
About 10 years later, Konstantopoulos’s vision deteriorated to the point where he could no longer work. Five years ago, he became completely blind. “If you lose your sight, you lose almost everything,” the 72-year-old said.
In 2009, Konstantopoulos’s doctor asked him if he wanted to participate in a trial of the Argus II system. He nodded eagerly. Konstantopoulos says the procedure took about three hours and was painless. Afterward, no one would have noticed unless he told them.
Now every morning Konstantopoulos puts on his camera-equipped glasses and stands near a window or patio, waiting for the sound of a car. When a car passes, the old electrician says he can see it as a mass of light.
The 72-year-old man can now distinguish colored objects from their surroundings, navigate a room, open windows and doors. In addition, he trains with a specialist once a week. The exercises include tracking moving objects on a computer screen and identifying shapes. His vision has gradually improved and he can do many things around the house by himself.
"The thing I'm looking forward to the most is seeing my grandson's face. I've never seen his face," Konstantopoulos said.
According to VnExpress
