Until now, scientists cannot develop electronic prostheses and implant them in humans, because they do not have the technology yet.
However, the new artificial eye can bring people closer to the so-called “ cyborg ” world , a step forward !!
WHAT IS MEANT BY THE WORD CYBORG? HOW WILL THIS PROSTHETIC EYE BE DESIGNED ?!
The word cyborgs denotes a group of virtual or fictional characters
They possess physical capabilities that extend beyond normal human limits through mechanical components or limbs that are implanted in their bodies.
WHAT ABOUT THE PROSTHETIC EYE?
Engineers have developed a device that mimics the human eye, which is sensitive to light and has a faster reaction than a real eyeball.
It might not come with the approximate or even nocturnal vision capabilities of Steve Austin in the popular show "THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN."
But this new invention has the ability to see more clearly than the human eye, according to what the researchers said in a report to them.
HE SAID ZHIYONG VAN , AN ENGINEER AND THE WORLD OF MATERIALS FROM THE HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:
"In the future, we can use this prosthetic eye to improve the vision of robots and prosthetics."
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF THE ARTIFICIAL EYE COMPARED TO THE HUMAN EYE?
The human eye has wide and high-resolution fields of vision, thanks to the retina (an area at the back of the eyeball that is covered with light-detection cells).
Therefore, the scientist "Zhiyong Fan" used the curved aluminum oxide membrane, which contains nanoscale sensors made of a light-sensitive material called "peru phsc"
This is in order to mimic the functioning of the artificial retina just like the human eye.
Wires connected to the retina of the artificial eye send readings from the sensors to external circuits for processing.
Like the task performed by the nerve fibers in the human eye to transmit signals from the eyeball to the brain.
The artificial eyeball records changes in lighting faster than the human eye can do, within 30 - 40 milliseconds, instead of 40 - 150 milliseconds.
The artificial eye can see dim light like the human eye, even though its field of view is 100 degrees.
It is not as wide as the 150 ° field that the human eye can absorb, except that it is 70 degrees better for regular imaging sensors.
In theory, the accuracy of the artificial eye could be much higher than that of the human eye.
This is because the artificial retina contains approximately 460 million electronic optical sensors per square centimeter
While the human retina contains about 10 million cells to detect light per square centimeter.
HOW WAS THE NEW PROSTHESIS DESIGNED?
The design of the new prosthetic eye (shown in the figure) is based on the structure of the human eye.
At the back of the eyeball, the prosthetic retina is enclosed with nanoscale optical sensors, as these sensors measure the light that passes through the lens in the front of the eye.
Wires connected to the back of the retina transmit signals from those sensors to the external circuits for processing.
This is similar to the way that nerve fibers connect the human eyeball to the brain.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFICULTIES IN DESIGNING THE THIN WIRES THAT TRANSMIT THE READINGS FROM THE SENSORS?
The more thin wires in the eyeball the artificial eye, the higher the resolution.
For this, Zhiyong Fan's team used a magnetic field to connect a small group of metal needles.
Each from 20 to 100 μm, with nanosensors on the artificial retina one by one.
“It's like a surgery,” said Zhiyong Fan . (To signify that designing and connecting the thin wires was a difficult job.)
IN THE END ... WE MENTION:
The current method for researchers to create individual ultra-small pixels is not yet practical.
Hongrui Jiang (an electrical engineer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison) said:
“The artificial eye was designed with hundreds of wires, and the process was difficult, so what about millions of wires ?!
Engineers will need a more efficient way to manufacture large sets of tiny wires located on the back of an artificial eyeball to give it insight. ”
Comments
Post a Comment