Fox News
Expand
Browse All Video
Watch Live

You're watching...

New device offering vision for the blind

Details

  • Description

    First US artificial retina approved

  • Duration 5:08
  • Date

Clips

Also in this playlist...

Sunday Housecall

Auto-advance: ON

Auto-advance
View All

Transcript

This transcript is automatically generated

And it's time now for -- house call joining us as always is doctor Marc Siegel.

Is associate professor of medicine that might use -- -- medical center and author of the inner pulse.

Unlocking the secret cold -- sickness and health also doctor some bodies here David's body that is vice chairman of the department of urology.

Chief of robotics at the Mount Sinai Medical Center doctors good morning good morning great to have you here this.

Everywhere I go people talk about you guys in this segment is becoming so popular helpful and this is really helpful.

Apparently there is new hope for those who are visually impaired the FDA approves.

A brand new.

Item that could help those folks what is it doctor -- It's -- right now we're using it for a condition called red -- -- pigment -- which is a lot of big words but basically a 100000 people in the United States are blind.

Because of this condition where the -- cells in their -- the photo cells in their -- in the retina at the back of the -- aren't working it's congenital you get it.

When your board.

And scientists have been for many years trying to figure out a way around that what's really exciting today Jamie is that they're using camera technology.

They're using basically the camera.

And the Department of Energy has been involved in research with this since 2002.

And here's what it looks like it's a device called an bargains and they've gone through three metamorphosis artists want -- -- -- Argus three.

What they are -- they put a video camera or a pair of glasses which you Wear and the video camera settings impulses to a little computer chip.

That sends these impulses born into the eyewear electrodes are -- on the retina.

And this is the hard part in the you can see it on the screen -- the electrodes converted into signals that the brain understands.

And that's the part that's required all the research like.

How does the I do that how does the retina.

Take these light signals and convert them into something the brain understands.

This device -- been able to do it and the third one which is up not on the launching -- the second one artist who was just approved by the FDA for -- main news.

And they're studying -- and -- -- European studies on and they found that it can help people differentiate objects light.

Maybe even preliminary things like letters it's not perfect.

But the next one which is -- -- 200 elect took trojans even going to be -- -- discerning so people who are blind are going to be able to perform daily functions again.

Okay it sounds like a miracle.

Do ophthalmologist who do -- eye surgery will they be equipped to be able to do the implantation and what's it going to cost.

It's going to cause about a 100000 dollars they're only about 4000 of these available per year.

Only about thirty of them have been done and it was approved in Europe in 2011.

And we just cut the approval by FDA.

I want people to understand exactly what this is about because when you see some thing.

You know the images have to be translated to some electric -- that's what -- of those.

Redman is -- currently it is almost like a camera and the field those -- that feels that you have.

That's the that's the field it takes -- image translated into some pause.

Goes through your nerves to the brain and in the brain gets back to the image that's how we can see things.

So this is a huge step forward -- has been a lot of research from Colombia president presbyterian.

When genetic studies and there are fifteen gene mutations that we have found there's stem cell that's going on in this research and then came this implant.

And what it really is Betty it's almost -- simulates what all right does.

Takes the image translated in the computing to some electric poles shifted to there's two of them are -- the big question comes in.

We have a transplant for everything now we have kidney transplant may have they were transparent.

We even have corneal transplant for -- -- -- why can't we do and I transplant the big question comes when I read this.

And the answer is that it's almost impossible because are so many nerves.

Millions and millions of nerves are involved in the -- So we can do it so I think this -- a big step he can't seem well don't think that they go from darkness to -- -- see this street signs because he did -- when they open.

And the part of the problem we've been -- -- just -- mentos.

Is that they lose their night blindness first did they lose occured first so they would have a tunnel vision.

And then there was a center that's very different immaculate degeneration that was spoke about a couple weeks at a slightly -- surgery where you have the surgery and it works but -- suddenly you need classes at night for many people.

Know exactly now with David mentioned stem cells -- wanna point out that -- -- and Harvard there's ongoing studies about using stem cells we regenerate parts of the -- now.

Immaculate -- degeneration which affects millions of people when -- spoke about on the show a few weeks ago.

That's another possible use for this so you have a 100000 people -- -- pigment host of millions.

We were losing their vision as they get old -- immaculate -- degeneration granted this is a cumbersome glasses.

But that -- and the electrodes keep getting smaller and smaller and smaller and it's kinda like robotic surgery it's getting more and more exciting.

This is very exciting and we will keep our audience.

Up to split on and when it will be available on where for shore go to new development --

Load More