A miniature telescope, which can be implanted in the eye, might help the blind see—assuming it passes clinical trials.
Remember how Galileo could see through his telescope, even when he had a degenerative eye disease? Now imagine inserting a miniature telescope directly in the eyeball—that’s exactly how VisionCare Inc. plans on restoring sight for people with eyes so bad, not even glasses and laser surgery help. Right now, the company’s target patients are those with advanced macular degeneration, a progressive disease that can lead to blindness.
The telescope, which is made of glass and is the “size of a pencil eraser,” uses the cornea as a telephoto lens, and then magnifies the images onto the retina. This allows the person to see images as being three times larger than they really are.
Because the patient is outfitted with a telescope in only one eye, he or she must then learn how to block out double vision. This can be difficult for patients, so researchers have suggested methods such as winking or using tape to block out vision in the other eye.
The device seems promising so far: It’s been used in Europe for the last five years. The latest clinical trial involved 206 people — only a few have since requested to have it removed, either “because they didn’t like it” or their device had a manufacturing defect (which has since been fixed). Currently, there’s ongoing clinical trial in the U.S., though the FDA must still approve it before the treatment can be used here.
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Image: flickr/ pfostphfilms
May 28th, 2009 at 1:42 am
Sounds promising. Can imagine it’s could be a real headache retraining the way one’s viewed the world for 60 yrs.
Surprised neither Dickinson nor VisionCare Inc. made any reference to the scope’s effectiveness relative to the two (2) types of AMD; the wet macular degeneration & dry macular degeneration.
Thanks, R.S.V.P.,
DPT
July 8th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
[...] Many of us with less-than-perfect vision fantasize about waking up one morning able to see perfectly. Wish no more: There are contact lenses that claim to shape the lens of your eye while you sleep, eventually giving nearsighted people perfect vision (a remedy that’s significantly less sci-fi than a telescope implanted in the eye). [...]
August 18th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
My dad is legally blind from wet macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. So if this treatment pans out, I’m sure he’ll be first in line to sign up for it!