The vision researchers throughout the world have been working, since 1950, towards the ambitious goal of restoring a functional level of vision to the blind via electrical stimulation of the visual pathways. Groups based in Australia, USA, Germany, France and Japan report progress in the translation of retinal visual prosthetics from the experimental to clinical domains, with two retinal visual prostheses having recently received regulatory approval for clinical use. Regulatory approval for cortical visual prostheses is yet to be obtained; however, several groups report plans to conduct clinical trials in the near future, building upon the seminal clinical studies. An attempt has been made in this informative Booklet to discuss the general principles of visual prostheses employing electrical stimulation of the visual pathways, focusing on the retina and visual cortex as the two most extensively studied stimulation sites. Further to state that the surgical and functional outcomes reported to date for retinal and cortical prostheses, concluding with a brief discussion of novel developments in this field and an outlook for the future, has also been described precisely in this review for the enthusiastic Medicos. …..Dr.H.K.Saboowala. M.B.(Bom) M.R.S.H.(London)
Intended as a useful and practical guide primarily oriented toward ophthalmic practitioners involved in retinal prosthesis implantation and post-operative visual rehabilitation, this book focuses on the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis and its revolutionary incorporation into the practice. The reader will get an update on patient selection, expected visual outcomes, surgical implantation techniques, and post-operative visual rehabilitation. Retinal Prosthesis - A Clinical Guide to Successful Implementation is written in a clear and concise manner and includes diagrams and high quality photographs to demonstrate best practices in surgical techniques and desired outcomes. Covering topics such as history of retinal prostheses, bioengineering considerations, clinical therapies, and other therapies and future directions, this book is written for practicing ophthalmologists, residents, and medical students interested in retinal implants.
For the millions of people with untreatable blindness the thought of a visual prosthesis that would allow them to live a normal life has always been a distant hope. There have been intermittent bright spots that periodically fan that hope such as when Dr. Dobelle’s visual prosthesis patient drove a car in an empty parking lot. This book will serve as an update of the work in developing a visual prosthesis. Chapters discuss the physiologic and engineering issues, alternative strategies, and patents, as well as recent research studies. Visual Prosthesis - A Concise Guide is a must-have resource for ophthalmologists, neurologists, engineers and physicists.
This book describes advances in implantable neural stimulation technology to restore partial sight to people who are blind from retinal degnerative diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and retintis pigmentosa. Many scientific, engineering, and surgical challenges must be surmounted before widespread practical applications can be realized. The book summarizes the state of research and clinical practice in the field and reviews the current ideas and approaches of its leading researchers and practitioners.
This book presents and analyses the most recent research dedicated to restoring vision in individuals who are severely impaired or blind from retinal disease or injury. It is written by the leading groups worldwide who are at the forefront of developing artificial vision. The book begins by discussing the difficulties in comparing and interpreting functional results in the area of very low vision and the principal prospects and limitations of spatial resolution with artificial tools. Further on, chapters are included by researchers who stimulate the surface or the pigment epithelial side of the retina and by experts who work on stimulating the optic nerve, the lateral geniculate body and the superficial layers of the visual cortex. Artificial Vision: A Clinical Guide collates the most recent work of key artificial vision research groups to explain in a comparable and stringent order their varying approaches, the clinical or preclinical outcomes and their achievements during the last years. Senior ophthalmic fellows and academic practitioners will find this guide to be an indispensable resource for understanding the current status of artificial vision.
Signi?cant progress has been made in the development of neural prostheses for restoration of human functions and improvement of the quality of life. Biomedical engineers and neuroscientists around the world are working to improve the design and performance of existing devices and to develop novel devices for arti?cial vision, arti?cial limbs, and brain-machine interfaces. This book, Implantable Neural Prostheses 2: Techniques and Engineering Approaches, is part two of a two-volume sequence that describes state-of-the-art advances in techniques associated with implantable neural prosthetic devices. The techniques covered include biocompatibility and biostability, hermetic packaging, electrochemical techniques for neural stimulation applications, novel electrode materials and testing, thin-?lm ?exible microelectrode arrays, in situ char- terization of microelectrode arrays, chip-size thin-?lm device encapsulation, microchip-embedded capacitors and microelectronics for recording, stimulation, and wireless telemetry. The design process in the development of medical devices is also discussed. Advances in biomedical engineering, microfabrication technology, and neu- science have led to improved medical-device designs and novel functions. However, many challenges remain. This book focuses on the engineering approaches, R&D advances, and technical challenges of medical implants from an engineering p- spective. We are grateful to leading researchers from academic institutes, national laboratories, as well as design engineers and professionals from the medical device industry who have contributed to the book. Part one of this series covers designs of implantable neural prosthetic devices and their clinical applications.
This Handbook serves as an authoritative reference book in the field of Neuroengineering. Neuroengineering is a very exciting field that is rapidly getting established as core subject matter for research and education. The Neuroengineering field has also produced an impressive array of industry products and clinical applications. It also serves as a reference book for graduate students, research scholars and teachers. Selected sections or a compendium of chapters may be used as “reference book” for a one or two semester graduate course in Biomedical Engineering. Some academicians will construct a “textbook” out of selected sections or chapters. The Handbook is also meant as a state-of-the-art volume for researchers. Due to its comprehensive coverage, researchers in one field covered by a certain section of the Handbook would find other sections valuable sources of cross-reference for information and fertilization of interdisciplinary ideas. Industry researchers as well as clinicians using neurotechnologies will find the Handbook a single source for foundation and state-of-the-art applications in the field of Neuroengineering. Regulatory agencies, entrepreneurs, investors and legal experts can use the Handbook as a reference for their professional work as well.
Visual Prosthetics provides an in-depth analysis of the principles of operation, current state, anticipated developments, and functional aspects of visual prosthetics restoring sight to visually impaired individuals. This volume uniquely describes the human visual system in health and disease in a pedagogical and didactic manner, fitting to professionals and researchers with a bioengineering background. Readers will find a balanced overview of electrical, molecular chemical and synthetic chromophore stimulation, in addition to the biophysics and psychological aspects of vision restoration. Unlike competitive texts, this introduction also includes the need and methods for functional evaluation and rehabilitation. Professionals in the field of biomedical engineering and graduate and postgraduate researchers will find Visual Prosthetics a valuable reference.
Master simple to advanced biomaterials and structures with this essential text. Featuring topics ranging from bionanoengineered materials to bio-inspired structures for spacecraft and bio-inspired robots, and covering issues such as motility, sensing, control and morphology, this highly illustrated text walks the reader through key scientific and practical engineering principles, discussing properties, applications and design. Presenting case studies for the design of materials and structures at the nano, micro, meso and macro-scales, and written by some of the leading experts on the subject, this is the ideal introduction to this emerging field for students in engineering and science as well as researchers.
Jens Naumann, a typical energetic young man of 17 had just moved out of his parent’s home in Northern British Columbia, moving into a railway camp as an employee with the British Columbia Railway. All goes well as Jens enjoys his new found freedom, treasuring his driver’s license and its associated freedom of travel. Then on a wintry day in 1981, fate rears its ugly head and strikes him blind in his left eye. Jens quickly rearranges his life to accommodate his new found fear - that of losing his remaining eye now that the true vulnerability of his eyesight is revealed. As his life continues onwards despite the initial readjustment, he finds ultimate happiness in his new marriage to his young wife Lorri, and just when life stands at its threshold of paradise exploring fatherhood along with the beauty of travel and thrill, his worst nightmare becomes reality not once, but twice in the most bizarre series of unforeseen incidents of bad luck; as Jens is totally blinded with no foreseeable chance of seeing again according to the best medical experts. Jens tries his best to adjust to this unwanted situation, exploring conventional methods of rehabilitation to live with blindness, as well as using imaginative, totally unheard - of activities in order to pass his time in a hope of someday being able to see again despite all the odds stacked against him. Close to the turn of the century, Jens unexpectedly receives news of an American Medical Device Engineer, Dr. William H. Dobelle, inviting blind adults as patients for his newly developed artificial vision system designed to provide limited vision via visual cortex stimulation. Dr. Dobelle claims that his system has a good chance in functioning based on previous experimenting with volunteers, at the same time classifying the surgical procedure as minor. The system and its related components is complicated; consisting of not only the implants, but a series of “electrical sockets” protruding from the patients head to which an array of computer boxes and stimulator hardware is connected and worn by the patient. Jens is determined to be one of the patients, regardless of the remoteness of the chance of being one out of literally millions of blind people in the World possibly lining up to have this procedure in hopes of ending their blindness for once and for all. To his absolute surprise, Jens is accepted as the first patient for this procedure and slowly builds a relationship with Dr. Dobelle as Jens overcomes obvious barriers of raising enough money for the very expensive procedure, as well as fighting the challenges of relentless forces working against him for his involvement in the Dobelle vision project. Armed with preconceived ideas of how a research institute should be run, Jens travels overseas for the various stages of the procedure, only to find the most astonishing facts of what goes on in the heart of a renowned medical research institute. Not only is Jens looking at the workings of the Dobelle Institute from the view of a patient, but in short time Jens is hired by the firm as Patient Representative, providing further exploration yet on the inner most details concerning a research company and its treatment of the 15 additional implanted patients. Throughout the book, Jens describes the devastation, exhilaration, disappointment, elation, and confusion that attempts at sight recovery, medical intervention, media propaganda, and ethical boundaries conjure in the most illustrative intensity. The manner in which the book ends is most indescribable; one could view it as the final straw, the beginning of a new era, the curse of the unforgiven, the sadness of a crushing reality, the beginning of a good job left unfinished; or that of the birth of a new expert compelled to unleash the new found knowledge for the whole World to thrive. Just as many questions are answered, many more yet are opened and left so far undiscovered. Search for Paradise is ce
