NEW ARTIFICIAL EYES

Artwork:� Graphic describing Dobelle�s Artificial Eye

����������� "New eyes for the blind."� Who has not dreamed of the day when lost vision could be restored by a piece of technology?� A lot of old dreams are well on the way to being new realities.�

����������� The Dobelle Institute, of Zurich, Switzerland, and New York City, has developed devices it calls "neurostimulators."� One of these is an artificial eye.� Regulatory approval, to implant this system in the United States, is pending.

����������� This device has three components, as shown in the accompanying drawing.� First is a small black-and-white television camera, worn on a pair of spectacles.� Second is a small, portable computer, currently weighing about ten pounds (and it will get smaller).� The third component is a set of electrodes implanted in the visual cortex of the user's brain.

����������� The idea is to replace the vanished electrical stimulation produced by the retina and the optic nerve with similar electrical stimulation produced by camera and computer, delivered to the same area of the brain by the electrodes.� Only the electrodes themselves are implanted; all other components are external, for easy repair and upgrading.

����������� A special interface in the system's computer allows the user to plug directly into television or the internet.� The system designers feel this feature will increase employability of the blind, even more than the system's camera, originally conceived as an orientation and mobility aid.

����������� How much can you "see" with this system?� William H. Dobelle, PhD, designer of the system, describes it as:� "A visual prosthesis...produces black and white display... analogous to images projected on the light bulb display at stadium scoreboards.� The� system was primarily designed to promote independent mobility, not reading."

����������� The theory of electrical neurostimulation is not new; it was first spelled out in the 1960's, when the necessary computer weighed about 700 pounds.� TV cameras and computers are microminiaturizing at great rate, and the package will only get smaller.�

����������� Pricing is not finalized, and "will depend on the number of units sold," says the Dobelle Institute, but they expect the price to drop to around $50,000 per unit (including installation surgery).

����������� For more information about the artificial vision device, contact:� The Dobelle Institute, Inc., at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, 3960 Broadway, New York, NY 10032-1543; telephone:� (212) 927-4000; fax:� (212) 927-6300; website:� http://www.artificialvision.com