A bionic eye could give sight to millions of people with problems within just five years, experts say.
The world's first 3D artificial eyeball can provide clearer vision than a real human eye. The bionic eye's images are processed by a swarm of tiny sensors that mirror photoreceptor cells that can detect light.
How does the bionic eye work?
The biomimetic artificial eye presented in a paper in the journal Nature it is an artificial visual system that imitates the human eye. A lens is attached over an opening in an “eyeball,” which consists of a metal shell at the front, an artificial retina at the back, and an ionic liquid in between.
The key advancement is the hemispherical retina: The sensors are encased in tiny aluminum and tungsten membranes shaped like a half sphere, which mimics a retina. Unraveling from the eye is a dense array of light-sensitive nanowires held in the pores of an aluminum oxide membrane. The nanowires mimic photoreceptor cells in biological retinas. A polymer socket holds the retina, ensuring electrical contact between the nanowires and the liquid metal wires on the back. The liquid metal wires mimic nerve fibers by transmitting signals from the nanowires to external circuits for signal processing.
The eye is called EC-EYE. The acronym stands for “Electro Chemical Eye”. The device has something of the sinister HAL, the eye of the supercomputer in “A Space Odyssey,” the 1968 science fiction film.
Prof. Zhiyong Fan, of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said clinical and animal studies have already been planned.
“Our biomimetic eye,” says the researcher, “has a size comparable to a human eye: just over two cm in diameter.”
Who wants a bionic eye?
The first, possible use of such a device is in the field of visual prosthetics, to help the blind or visually impaired. And it can pave the way for the “mass” bonic eye.
“We hope to further improve our device in terms of biocompatibility, stability and performance. If all goes well, I believe that within the next five years this technology will become practical.”
