New bionic eye to see human faces

2 Nov 2012, 6:19 pm   -   Source: Andy Park, SBS

Australia’s bionic eye technology is about to take a huge leap forward. From spare car parts to human trials, the next prototype may allow implantees to differentiate human faces; a key social skill for those who have lost their sight, writes Andy Park.

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The world’s first recipient of a bionic eye implant has been successfully using the rudimentary prototype for the past two months, but a new prototype is set to allow recipients to make out human faces.

The first device was implanted in 54-year-old Dianne Ashworth by Bionic Vision Australia.

But biomedical engineers Nigel Lovell and Gregg Suaning from the University of New South Wales have been working fifteen years to develop a better one.

The advanced prototype, ready for human trials in the coming months, is set to propel the Australian-made human-electronic interface closer to the reality of a bionic man.

"I have heard some people say; can we have an infrared camera so we can see in the dark? And that's certainly also possible," Professor Lovell said.

The new version uses the same set up as Ms Ashworth’s, whereby sunglasses mounted with tiny video cameras send a video signal to processing unit, not unlike a smart phone.

That processing unit sends a wireless video stream to a microchip surgically implanted on top of the eye, out of the way of the eye’s natural movement.

The chip then sends the signal down a wire to a series of electrodes inserted into the retina, which stimulate the optic nerve at points which correlate to the dots or pixels perceived by the implantee.

But while Ms Ashworth‘s implant allows her to vaguely see large objects without definition, the new prototype will give implantees the ability to differentiate human faces.

“The very first system only has a limited number of dots of phosphines, but with certain advanced technology, we hope to be able to steer current and create extra phosphines in between [the existing ones],”

The development is akin to doubling or even trebling the pixel resolution on a computer screen.

"As the technology becomes more refined we'll use it for more significant activities of daily living, such as detecting faces, which we are told via feedback from the vision impaired community is very important to them,”

The pair behind this newer version, who are spearheading a new wave of innovative biomedical patents, had humble beginnings, scrounging up spare parts to make the first prototype.

Associate professor Gregg Suaning, whose background ranges from Silicon Valley start-ups to the electronics behind the cochlear bionic ear, opens up a small box containing a home-made tool he used to make the very first chip.

He points to the mess of wires and electronics inside.

"This particular device is an ignition coil from a 1978 Datsun, this is from television and this is from a stereo, we rescued those two things from council clean up night," he said.

But Professor Lovell says the domestic bionics industry is only just being realised.

“Australia has a grand history in neural prosthesis, from the pacemaker with Telektronics, to Cochlear that has 70 per cent of the market share of bionic ears.

“But we can do a lot more with this medical bionic industries and the bionic eye is just one small aspect  of these brain machine interfaces that can take Australia into the next generation of biomedical technologies,"  he said.

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Andy Park SBS , Bionic Eye

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