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The FDA Approved Bionic Eye Will Be Available in Major Markets Later This Year

Wrap around-style glasses might belong in the future after all.
Image via University Hospitals Case Medical Center

In February, the FDA approved market sales for artificial retina technology in the form of a bionic eye that will be used to treat patients with late stage retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Yesterday, Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence posted an article stating that the technology will be available in 12 major markets later this year.

The product is called the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System and is made by Second Sight Medical Products. It works by wirelessly sending images from a small camera mounted on eyeglasses to an microelectrode chip placed in the patient's retina. The chip sends electric signals through optic nerves which the brain can transform into an image. The camera can span 20 degrees of visual field and the glasses stream video to a computer worn on the user's belt which turns the video into the electric stimuli for the implants. The eyewear almost looks like an off-brand Google Glass prototype, though it should be expected that the design will improve over time. It wouldn't be surprising if Second Sight even paired with a company like Google in the future.

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University Hospitals (UH) Eye Institute in Ohio will be one of the first medical centers to offer the product, with more hospitals to follow in coming months, according to a news report posted on Second Sight's website. Over 100,000 people suffer from RP and this could be a life-changing solution to the disability.

Image via Second Sight

The bionic eye is not unlike a cochlear implant, the so-called "bionic ear." Cochlear implants are not hearing aids. Like the Argus II, these implants overcome damaged ears by stimulating auditory nerves. Patients have implants that generate signals which are sent through the auditory nerve to the brain, which recognizes the signals as sound. Both the bionic eye and ear essentially trick the brain into perceiving sensory data. The cochlear implants only work if the auditory nerve is still in tact, and it can be assumed that the Argus II's functionality depends on the optic nerves, too.

I talked to a deaf friend, and he noted that there is a major difference between bionic ears and eyes. The cochlear implant is considered controversial within deaf culture, whereas the retina implants won't yield the same polarized opinions. Bionic ears ignore the interpersonal culture that's based on sign language and other communicative customs and some even describe the implants as a tool that could yield the genocide of deaf culture. There is wide range of literature on the topic that goes all the way back to the 18th century with debates about manualism versus oralism education methods. Blindness as a disability is totally different from deafness in terms of social interaction and culture, and thus the Argus II may not receive the backlash that cochlear implants have.

Robert Greenberg founded Second Sight in 1998, and the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Health and the Department of Energy have all supported the company with grants that total more than $100 million. The term 'bionic eye' is a little misleading, as this technology is nothing like the tools used by real-life cyborgs like Neil Harbisson. At the same time, this could be a big step in the future of re-building damaged body parts with next-level technology.