Man gets bionic eye, sees wife for first time in decade (VID)

Get your tissues ready you'll need them after watching this.
from NBC NEWS

A Minnesota man who got a bionic eye implant was able to see his wife for the first time in 10 years.He became the first person in Minnesota, and 15th person in the country, to receive a bionic eye.

A 68-year-old Minnesota man was able to see his wife for the first time in a decade last week after becoming the fifteenth person in the country to receive a "bionic eye" implant.

Allen Zderad's career as a chemist ended 20 years ago when his sight began to fail as a result of a degenerative eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa, according to a statement from the Mayo Clinic.

Raymond Iezzi Jr., a Mayo Clinic researcher and ophthalmologist, was researching the "Second Sight Argus II" retinal prosthesis system when he encountered Zderad and decided the grandfather of ten would be a good candidate for an implant. Iezzi installed 60 electrodes in Zderad's eye, which interact with a camera in Zderad's glasses and a wearable computer pack to send information to the electrodes implanted in his retina, which then sends signals straight to the optic nerve, Iezzi explained to NBC affiliate KARE.

WOW... The details he can see are fuzzy BUT STILL...he can see again! This tech along with cochlear implants are modern miracles... In the words Of Jesse Pinkman "YEAH SCIENCE"!

a reply to: DjembeJedi

WOW so the details he can see are fuzzy..

Was that a deliberate pun?

Great news for the blind though...the science, not the pun.

a reply to: MysterX
Nope the pun is not intentional at all..Just the way it reads I guess..lol

any eyesight is better than none.
So very good news. and let's hope the tech improves to the point that he won't be missing much detail.
But why is it the first thing that came to my mind was:

A 68-year-old Minnesota man was able to see his wife for the first time in a decade
"Damn you got fat!"

A 68-year-old Minnesota man was able to see his wife for the first time in a decade
"take out the eye TAKE IT OUT!"

Clearly i have deep seeded issues that i need to take care of.

originally posted by: IShotMyLastMuse
any eyesight is better than none.
So very good news. and let's hope the tech improves to the point that he won't be missing much detail.
But why is it the first thing that came to my mind was:

A 68-year-old Minnesota man was able to see his wife for the first time in a decade
"Damn you got fat!"

A 68-year-old Minnesota man was able to see his wife for the first time in a decade
"take out the eye TAKE IT OUT!"

Clearly i have deep seeded issues that i need to take care of.

Nope Im married and totally get it! lol

Iezzi installed 60 electrodes in Zderad's eye, which interact with a camera in Zderad's glasses and a wearable computer pack to send information to the electrodes implanted in his retina,

I haven't read up on this tech. was wondering what is meant by an "electrode" in the eye? Do 60 of them replace rods and cones? And how much memory is in the "pack" ?

Amazing is the brain and optics, with all our tech we hold a puny candle to the remarkable ability we call vision.

I bet he thought "Christ she's let herself go!"

originally posted by: intrptr

Iezzi installed 60 electrodes in Zderad's eye, which interact with a camera in Zderad's glasses and a wearable computer pack to send information to the electrodes implanted in his retina,

I haven't read up on this tech. was wondering what is meant by an "electrode" in the eye? Do 60 of them replace rods and cones? And how much memory is in the "pack" ?

Amazing is the brain and optics, with all our tech we hold a puny candle to the remarkable ability we call vision.

It’s basically a pair of glasses with a mounted camera that captures an image, sends it to a small computer, which in turn sends a processed translation back to the glasses to transfer wireless instructions to a retinal implant. The implant itself contains 60 electrodes.

So its just 1 implant...I believe that is the general Idea..To stimulate the dead rods/cones and replace the signal so the brain can interpret it..as far as memory the article didn't state...

Man what a heart warming story. In the midst of all these very negative stories that frequent this site and just everywhere in general lately, I really appreciate a story like this. This is why I still keep faith in humans. We have great potential for both evil and good, so let's continue to focus on the good, like this story.

a reply to: DjembeJedi

Heres a little more about the device…

Forbes article

originally posted by: Voyaging
Man what a heart warming story. In the midst of all these very negative stories that frequent this site and just everywhere in general lately, I really appreciate a story like this. This is why I still keep faith in humans. We have great potential for both evil and good, so let's continue to focus on the good, like this story.

Agreed..BUT sometimes we must give light to the negative..expose it and be done with it!

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: DjembeJedi

Heres a little more about the device…

Forbes article

Nice! A vid from that link explains it a bit more..

a reply to: DjembeJedi

The patient then has to learn to interpret these visual patterns thereby regaining some visual function.

Would be nice to see the digital "imagery" directly. From the sound of it it isn't like what we think of as "vision".

I heard of another device that helps the blind see color by tones or bleeps. It also uses a camera and emits sounds depending on the most prevalent color "visible" in the cameras field of view.

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: DjembeJedi

The patient then has to learn to interpret these visual patterns thereby regaining some visual function.

Would be nice to see the digital "imagery" directly. From the sound of it it isn't like what we think of as "vision".

I heard of another device that helps the blind see color by tones or bleeps. It also uses a camera and emits sounds depending on the most prevalent color "visible" in the cameras field of view.

I imagine it being like a Kaleidoscope...

originally posted by: intrptr

Iezzi installed 60 electrodes in Zderad's eye, which interact with a camera in Zderad's glasses and a wearable computer pack to send information to the electrodes implanted in his retina,

I haven't read up on this tech. was wondering what is meant by an "electrode" in the eye? Do 60 of them replace rods and cones? And how much memory is in the "pack" ?

Amazing is the brain and optics, with all our tech we hold a puny candle to the remarkable ability we call vision.

They create a tiny disc with light sensors, a wireless communications processor and a grid of electrodes at the back. The light sensors create signals that are sent by the processor to an external processing unit which simulates the processing that the various layers of the retina do. The resulting image is then sent back to the disc where the electrodes transmit the signal to what remains of the retina nerves.

artificialretina.energy.gov...

To model a complete retina, they would need a 100 megapixel CCD, plus a grid of 10 million electrodes.

a reply to: stormcell

Cool pic. So its not the number of pixels that limit bionic eyes, it the hardware to 'mind ware' interface.

Thanks for the reply.

a reply to: DjembeJedi

I imagine it being like a Kaleidoscope…

Really low resolution to be sure.

Delayed, digitized, low refresh rate. Neat science… primitive stages.

That's an F*ing awesome invention!

This might be needed more than most people realize as they have just discovered that viagra along with all PED5 inhibitors can trigger retinitis pigmentosa in otherwise healthy individuals as well as people predisposed to the condition.

originally posted by: PhoenixOD
This might be needed more than most people realize as they have just discovered that viagra along with all PED5 inhibitors can trigger retinitis pigmentosa in otherwise healthy individuals as well as people predisposed to the condition.

LOL sounds like a charity waiting to happen.."Boners for Blindness"...oh GOD..lol