Small telescope in the eye improves vision

A new tiny small telescope implanted in patient’s eye to improve their vision dramatically. The new device was designed specifically for people who have sever damaged retinas or “macular degeneration“. The telescope magnifies images on the retina, extending them so they fall on healthy cells outside the damaged macula, said Allen W. Hill, chief executive of VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies in Saratoga, Calif., the implant’s maker.

Magnifying images make patient unbalanced during walking or driving, so once the patients does the surgery he/she requires to practice before facing the new world.

Patients say “that’s fine we will practice, but we want to be able to see again”. This invention would allow people to see relatives that never recognized clearly before, or restore their physical activities such as hiking and biking etc..

According to the inventor, the tiny telescope doesn’t cure people from blindness, but it improves their vision in a way that makes them see better by eliminating blurry images. Not everyone is qualified for the outpatient procedure; maybe only 20 out of 100 candidates will be qualified for it. Also, the price range is not yet revealed, but we know that it will be available in the United States after the FDA approval by the end of this year 2009.

Via – NYT

A Simple Stem Cell Procedure Cures Blindness

Scientists in England claim a successful stem cell procedure restores eye sight for blinds.

The research leader Dr Nick Di Girolamofrom the University of New South Wales in Australia, said that the new breakthrough procedure is simple, cheap and requires only minimal hospital stay.

This new unique technique would give hope to millions of people around the globe with eye conditions or blindness to see again, even in the Third World.

The procedure starts by removing tissue with regenerative stem cells from the patient’s own eyes and then multiplying them in the laboratory on the surface of a contact lens. Then, this culture is placed back onto the damaged cornea for around 10 days, and then the cells decolonize and “patch” the damaged eye surface. According to patient’s who had the procedure, they saw dramatic improvement in their vision.

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