Amazing research illuminating the lives of the blind and visually impaired

- Hotline-Bhal Chandra Jani

- From 'retinal implant' to 'bionic eye' and special chemicals, many attempts are being made by scientists from home and abroad to remove blindness.

Medical science has made tremendous progress in the last four decades. Not only is treatment for almost every disease at hand, the treatment is becoming more accurate. For example, cancer patients previously suffered tremendous side effects—actually adverse effects—from chemotherapy. Loss of head hair, loss of sense of taste, deep depression etc. Now these adverse effects of chemotherapy have almost disappeared.

One such sociological research has taken place in the field of ophthalmology. That research is now called bionic eye. In simple words, it can be called an artificial eye. Ophthalmologists know that like cataracts, cataracts, cataracts, diabetic patients can also experience blurred vision. Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is a very stubborn and almost incurable eye disease in which the sensitivity of the retina is almost lost. The scenes captured by the retina like a camera through the light waves reach the brain at the same time through the optic nerve and the visual part of the brain interprets the electrical signals to make the person aware of 'what' he has seen.

Well, recently it was read that if a person who wants to get rid of glasses just put two drops of the newly discovered drug, the number of glasses will gradually disappear. Broadly speaking, the effect of the drop of this medicine in the eye starts within 15 minutes and clear vision can be achieved for six to ten hours. It is used with great success in some countries including America. Of course, this drug is still at the research stage and has not yet been fully approved.

On the other hand, in an important research that sheds light on the lives of clairvoyants, scientists are claiming that they have discovered a chemical that can restore vision to those whose eyesight is fading.

A team from the University of California, along with researchers from Munich and the University of Washington, are working on finding a compound that can temporarily light up blind mice.

AAQ compound is less harmful than inserting light sensitive electronic chips into the eye. It will help with hereditary blindness 'retinitis pigmentosa' and age-related macular degeneration (the most common cause of blindness in developed countries). In both of these diseases, the rods and cones, the light-sensing cells in the retina, die so that the reflection in the eye does not shine.

-The chemical AAQ sensitizes these dead cells in the retina to light.

Research team Prof. Richard Kramer says that AAQ is a photoswitch that creates protein ion channels (one of the substance's electrically conductive molecules) on the surface of the retina. When this switch is turned on by light, the flow of ions through the channels changes, and as the Rhodes and Cones activate. As this happens, these neurons are activated.

This newly discovered chemical degrades over time, making it an excellent option for applications that can permanently restore eyesight, such as gene or stem cell therapy. This is an important discovery in the field of restoring eyesight.

A person usually loses vision when the membrane of the eye (retina- cornea) is damaged due to an accident or any other reason. A corneal transplant is required to regain that vision. But getting a cornea for this is not easy. This donation can be received only from a dead (cadaver) donor.

But just one drop of liquid cornea made from gel and polymers by a Bengaluru-based company helps restore corneal cells (tissues) by repairing damage.

Significantly, more than one million Indians have corneal blindness (due to damage to the cornea) in both eyes. Since only deceased corneas can be donated, the waiting list for cornea transplants grows larger every year. As a result, only 25 thousand transplant operations are actually performed when one lakh cornea transplants are required per year.

How many corneas will be obtained depends on the donor and there is a big difference between demand and supply, says eye surgeon Dr. Virendra Sangwan said.

Now, Bengaluru-based Pandorum Technologies in collaboration with a Delhi hospital has developed corneas that help regenerate corneal tissue. These liquid corneas are made from gels and polymers. Liquid corneas are currently being tested on animals and so far the trials have been successful. Permission for human trials is expected in late 2022, and researchers are gearing up for it.

Instead of replacing the entire cornea, Dr. Liquid Cornea works just as Sangwan thinks. Doctors said that a drop of liquid cornea is placed in the damaged part of the cornea. Later, this liquid solidifies when the patient is treated with light. And as the cornea tears, the incision heals.

We know that a person with deaf ears can hear again with the help of a hearing aid, we know the wonder of science. Now, a unique device (special type of glasses) has been invented to enable the blind to see again. After several experiments, scientists have discovered a device that connects glasses directly to the brain.

This special type of glasses is named 'Dobell Eye' after Dr. William Dobell of New York based Dobell Institute. Using these glasses, a 62-year-old man was able to read large letters and walk without stumbling over large obstacles in the road. American scientists under the leadership of Dr. Dobelle have discovered these unique glasses. These glasses are not a complete cure for blindness, but they can prove useful for individuals with eye defects.

Recently, a professor of the University of Manchester implanted a 'bionic eye' in the eye of an 80-year-old British citizen. Due to which the old man partially regained his vision. In this case, the image captured by a bionic ion camera placed in the patient's eye is converted into a microscopic electrical wave. And these waves are projected onto the surface of the retina by wireless electrodes. Where these waves activate residual cells to transmit an image of a particle of light to the brain. In this way, a blind person can see the scene in front of him with 90 percent accuracy.

Scientists have long been working to bring sight to the blind. Not long ago, Georgia State University Prof. Led by Seidong, he successfully designed a device that could act as an electronic eye and give vision to the blind.

For this device to be a small electric eye, they have studied the vertical stacking system and created a new device through it.

The team's goal is to create a micro-scale camera that acts as a robot's eyes. Now researchers are trying to bring this structure to humans. Not only this but they are also going to use this technique for color blind to create a new type of image sensor. For that some basic principles will be used.

Before this, the researchers of Monas University in Australia discovered the bionic eye after a very deep examination of the eye. The discovery was made two years ago. Scientists claim that this is the world's first bionic eye. The price of which is around 15 lakh rupees. The cost of the operation to implant this device in the eye varies. There are also examples of the bionic eye being a beneficial option in some cases.

An 88-year-old grandmother has regained sight in her blind eye thanks to a revolutionary bionic implant. After a lifetime with normal vision, Grandmother lost sight in one eye due to Age Related Muscular Degeneration (AMD). Now that country has become the first beneficiary of the state-of-the-art device in a trial run across Europe. Because of that, now they are seeing eye to eye.

This bionic implant was done at Mooresfield Eye Hospital in London. Under this procedure, a two mm wide micro chip is placed inside the retina and contains a special glass with a video camera. It is connected to a computer placed on the waist. Using algorithms, the computer identifies the main object or object picked up by the camera. It then travels to the microchip's eye as an infrared beam. The microchip sends the signal to the brain, converting it into an electrical signal.

Dr. Mark Humayun, Co-Director of Research at the University of Southern California's Doheny Eye Institute and Professor of Ophthalmology at the Keck School of Medicine, has conducted a landmark study. In simple words we will call that research as retina implant. But here a clarification is necessary.

This is not an implant where an eye is donated after the death of a person and that eye is placed in the eye socket of a blind person to give him vision. This is a completely different matter. Dr. Humayun has created a microchip that is implanted in the eye of a RP or diabetic blind person. It also has a very subtle camera that is invisible to the naked eye. Special glasses are also given to the patient. This bionic eye will do the same job that nature has given us as retina photo receptor. This bionic eye will transmit visual signals to the brain at the same speed as the natural retina transmits visual signals to the brain.

How was this possible? The facts behind it are also very interesting. In Dr. Humayun's family, his mother and four uncles were doctors. His father studied economics at Cambridge. Little Mark grew up with his grandmother Taslim. Mark, who lived with his double graduate grandmother for years, was shocked when she became blind due to diabetes. A happy family with money means Mark traveled to different countries of the world with his grandmother every summer vacation. Grandma died soon after going blind. Mark bids his grandmother farewell and vows that R.P. And I will research to cure blindness from diabetes. After completing his Post Graduate (MS) in Ophthalmology, Mark did 17 years of intensive research.

During that research a surprising fact came to Mark's mind. He noted that no matter how severely the retina is damaged by certain diseases, the nerves that transmit the light waves captured by the retina to the brain remain almost intact. Therefore, if an artificial retina can be made, it can help a blind person a lot. Mark then undertook research into creating an artificial retina. It got help from experts. As a result, the bionic eye was gifted to mankind.

A side note here. Currently, the research to regenerate any organ naturally with the help of stem cells treatment is also going on in full swing. But it will take a few years before the person can afford the treatment.

Dr. Mark Humayun's bionic eye has been used by six patients for the past three years. He is experimentally given this artificial retina. Six to six patients see 60 to 70 percent. Bionic Eye is currently only available in the US.

Stem cell technology will make artificial eyes more effective, making them affordable for normal humans. Research in this direction is currently underway. But the day the retina with the help of stem cells

Since it will be possible to create a (retinal membrane), it will become very easy to remove blindness.