The Spanish artificial vision chip begins to locate objects

The Spanish artificial vision chip begins to locate objects

The system consists of a mini camera installed in special glasses that mimic the operation of the eye

  Iris II, the first Spanish receiver of the artificial vision device as part of a European clinical trial with ten participants, has begun to locate objects, half a year after the implantation of the retina chip.

In January, the Institute of Ocular Microsurgery (IMO) performed an operation on the patient Francisco Mulet, with vision deficit for more than 30 years, and this month has concluded the first stage of the study locating objects thanks to the perception of points of light .

   The patient continues with his work to identify the different objects through a visual reeducation program. The aim of the patient to learn to interpret the light stimuli that he receives and, thus, achieve "seeing" with the artificial vision system developed by the company Pixium Vision.

This system consists of a mini camera installed in special glasses that mimic the operation of the human eye and send the information captured in the form of infrared to a processor, which allows adjustments to zoom and brightness, among others, as well as select different modes Of vision.

The data reaches the chip implanted in the retina, which, through the optic nerve, transmits the image signals to the brain. To get the most out of this complex technology, we work in weekly sessions of about five hours in which the direction of the patient's gaze and the activation of each of the 150 electrodes that make up the chip are precisely monitored.

As the final purpose is to improve visual perception to achieve greater autonomy, in these consultation sessions, elements of daily life are introduced. "In real life, not everything is black and white, there are many colors and nuances, and this requires an adaptation", observed the optometrist Carol Camino, who adds that the patient already makes a good scan and locates the objects, so that now the efforts are focused on helping him associate what he sees to what he certainly is.