Just yesterday I made a post on what the future holds for science and technology including as much inventions as possible not to make the post too long. Well, it's my pleasure to introduce to you the bionic eye, a breakthrough of the 21st century just like the others that has proven to be of help to the blind. Researches according to World Health Organization shows we have an estimated amount of 253 million people living with visual impairment of which 36 million are totally blind and the remaining 217 million are visually impaired as at October, 2017. Their research also made known that this estimated number could triple by 2050 due to the rate of population growth and ageing. WHO

Due to the rate of blindness and the possible rate in the next coming years, scientists came up with the bionic eyes. Although it has been said to be available in Europe since 2011 but wasn't approved by the U. S Food and Drug Administration until 2014 and it is said that only the Argues II that has managed to receive approval for clinical use with others being under investigation.See here. The bionic eye just like other inventions is not perfect but very effective. It is capable of letting you walk in a straight line with trailing off, you can distinguish between white and black with it but can only read a giantly written word per time.

But Unlike most people say, the bionic eye is very much different from the prosthetic eyes or glass eyes. As you can see in the pictures above, they are very much different. The difference being that a prosthetic eye replaces the original eye while the bionic eye is implanted in the eye where it works. What do I mean? To use a prosthetic eye, the original eye has to be removed but in using a bionic eye, the original eye remains intact you just have to implant the bionic eye in the original eye. More info

How the bionic eye works

The bionic eyes can improve the quality of life for patients who lost their sight due to a retinal problem, usually retinitis pigmentosa that kills the cells of the retina. I used a labelled picture for a clearer explanation of the mechanism. Please you can take your time to study the image carefully to understand the mechanism. I guess you'ready done now. So, let's get going.

The digital camera in front of the eyeglasses picks up the images and translate it into data through a miniature computer and sends the data to a computer chip on the side of the eyeball with the help of the wireless transmitter. After this, the chip activates the eyelash-thin electrode array that was implanted behind the retina. This eyelash-thin electrode array behind the retina now stimulates the retina to send the visual data or information to the brain. The bionic eye is said to be more effective than the prosthetic eyes. The Mechanism.

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That little boy, @pearlumie

GIF made by @foundation

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