--- title: "Scientists Let Blind “See” With Next-Gen Bionic Glasses" description: "So far, the field of giving the blind back some of their sight using glasses-mounted cameras and electrodes implanted into the back of the eye hasn’t resulted in giving patients 20/20 vision — far from it. Companies like Second Sight have only allowed them to see diffused spots of light. “None of the patients gave […]" date: "2019-11-01" modified: "2019-11-01" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/scientists-blind-see-bionic-glasses" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Prosthetics and Devices" tags: - "blind" - "blindness" - "cure for blindness" - "health" - "visual cortex" --- # Scientists Let Blind “See” With Next-Gen Bionic Glasses ![Researchers are working on the next generation of bionic glasses that could give the blind back much more of their vision in the future.]() *\Image: Second Sight\* This summer, scientists used camera-mounted glasses and arrays of electrodes to send visual data [directly into the brains]() of blind patients. A company called Second Sight makes a similar implant that it claims is being used by 350 patients around the world. But those experiments have failed to provide patients with anything like regular vision. "None of the patients gave up their white cane or guide dog," visual prostheses expert from Stanford University Daniel Palanker [told *Science*](). "It’s a very low bar." But now, researchers are working on a new generation of devices that they say could give the blind much of their vision back. Palanker and his team created a retinal implant with 400 photodiodes — think of them as "pixels" — that gave participants who had the device implanted a year ago the ability to recognize objects on a table and read letters on a screen, according to *Science*. Palanter and his team presented videos of their findings at the [annual meeting]() of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago last week. The new device won't work on patients who have lost vision due to injury or damage to the optic nerve. It'll work only on patients who still have most of the pathways that enable sight intact — except for their photoreceptors. Photoreceptors are only the first step in the long sensory pathway as visual information gets transmitted from the eye to the brain. The photoreceptors are responsible for sending signals to special cells in the back of the eye, which then relay that information via the optic nerve to the brain. [Many common disorders](), including macular degeneration and retinal detachment, cause the destruction of the photoreceptors, but leave the rest of the sensory pathway in tact. Devices like Palanter's make use of this remaining sensory pathway. If much more than just patient's photoreceptors have been destroyed, workarounds are necessary. Second Sight's device, for instance, involves implanting 60 electrodes directly onto the visual cortex — the last step in the relay of information before the brain. These electrodes then relays signals to the brain that are collected by a camera that's mounted onto a pair of glasses. The results of this are expectedly less impressive than Palanker's device. After having the device implanted for about one year, they could only locate a fist-sized white square on a black screen, *Science* reports. And then there are the risks associated with implanting electrodes directly onto the visual cortex, like Second Sight's. Too much stimulation could risk triggering a seizure, according to *Science*. If the electrodes are too close together, visual points could fuse together into a blob. Others have raised concerns over the wires causing scarring. Such systems could end up "ruining the cortex for all other implants in the future and at best, \[the patient is\] not going to see much," State University of New York neuroscientist Stephen Macknik told *Science*. ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()