Blindness

Main article: Vision

The Return of Vision

2024

A retinal implant has been developed. He has already returned the sight of dozens of people

On October 22, 2024, the American company Science Corp announced the development of a PRIMA retinal implant designed to treat age-related macular degeneration. The product helped to return the sight of dozens of people. Read more here

Neuralink implant received permission from the US authorities for blindness

In mid-September 2024, it became known that regulators approved further research on an experimental implant for the restoration of sight Blindsight, which was developed by Elona Musk a brain chip startup. Neuralink The implant has received prestigious "breakthrough technology" status, which could speed up its approval for implementation in clinical practice. More here

A mini telescope has been released to treat blindness. It is already being implanted

At the end of July 2024, it became known that the Chinese doctor Li Xiaorong performed the first operation using the SING IMT miniature telescope manufactured by the Samsara Vision team to correct the consequences of central blindness in a patient with late-stage age-related macular degeneration. The operation was performed at the Lecheng Hospital of Hainan Medical University and was successful. Read more here

CRISPR gene editing technology partially restored vision to people with hereditary blindness

CRIPSR gene editing technology has improved vision in patients with hereditary blindness. This was reported on May 13, 2024 by NewAtlas, citing the results of a clinical trial of the technology.

The trial involved 14 patients with Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA). It is an inherited disease in which a mutation of the CEP290 gene causes a serious decrease in vision, and one in three patients completely loses their vision. At the moment, there is no FDA-approved treatment for the disease.

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Scientists in the report detailed the results of the first three years of the trial, from 2020 to 2023. Each patient was treated with one eye and then monitored for four different outcomes: definition of objects and letters on the table; how well they could see colored points of light in full-scale testing; how well they could navigate the maze with physical objects and different levels of illumination; and their own reports of quality of life changes.

No serious side effects were observed during testing, and mild effects were eliminated by physicians. The study suggests that CRISPR may be effective and safe not only in LCA, but possibly in other forms of blindness or genetic diseases in general.

Of the 14 participants, 11 showed improvement in at least one of these four results, while six (43% of subjects) showed progress in two or more tests. Six patients also reported improved quality of life due to improved vision, while four (29%) showed clinically meaningful improvement on the results of tests to determine vision level.^[1]

2023: People began to get their vision back with stem cells

On August 18, 2023, American researchers from the specialized clinic Mass Eye and Ear announced the development of a new technology that allows the return of vision using transplants based on limbal stem cells. Read more here.

2022

Sobyanin approved the free provision of eye implants to all needy Muscovites

At the end of November 2022, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin signed a decree approving the free provision of eye implants to all Muscovites in need. Read more here.

Implant for blindness-inducing diseases introduced

On November 21, 2022, a Science Eye implant was presented for the treatment of diseases that provoke blindness. This is the development of Science Corp, which in 2021 was created by co-founder and former head of Neuralink Max Hodak. Read more here.

Corneal implant designed to treat blindness

On August 18, 2022, it became known that scientists from Linköping University in Sweden developed a collagen-based corneal implant that could return vision to blind patients with corneal disease. This finding could pave the way for effective treatment of corneal diseases in such patients without requiring a corneal transplant from a donor.

The cornea, created by bioengineering, was made using highly purified collagen derived from pork skin, a byproduct of the food industry. The researchers developed a method to double-link purified collagen using both chemical and photochemical techniques that helped stabilize the free collagen fibers used in implants, meaning they have the right mechanical and biochemical properties to use as corneal replacements.

Corneal implant developed

Since there are not enough donor corneas, creating a ready-made alternative can be very useful. Almost 13 million people in the world are blind due to corneal disease, but it is very difficult to get a donor cornea to restore vision due to deficiency.

Notably, unlike donor corneas, which must be used within two weeks, the new collagen implants are stable for two years, meaning they represent a truly "ready-made solution."

The result of the research proved that there is a possibility of developing a biomaterial that meets a set of criteria for use as human implants, the production of which can be massive, and the product itself can be stored for up to two years, which will provide access to treatment for even more people with vision problems, says Neil Lagali, who is one of the leading developers of the new implant. This will overcome the deficiency of donor corneal tissue and provide access to other treatments for eye diseases.

Specialists from Linkoping tested implants on 20 patients suffering from keratoconus - a corneal disease, as a result of which the cornea thins significantly, which significantly impairs vision. At the start of the trials, 14 of the 20 patients were blind and the remaining 6 patients had poor vision. At the end of the trial, 2 years after implantation of bioengineered corneas, none of the patients became blind, and three participants had 20/20 vision.

At the heart of our work was the safety and efficacy of bioengineered implants, "said Mehrdad Rafat, another researcher involved in the study. We have done everything we can to ensure that our invention is widely disseminated and accessible to everyone, not just the wealthy. Thanks to this, this technology can be used in all over the world.[2]

2016: First bionic eye implantation

In November 2016, it became known about the first history bionic of eye implantation. Its developers argue that the technology can return sight with anyone. to blindness More. here

Technologies to help the blind

2023

Smart belt entered the market to replace cane blind

At the end of November 2023, the Hong Kong company AI Guided announced the GUIDi belt based on artificial intelligence, which helps blind and visually impaired people navigate space. The novelty is designed to become a more functional alternative to the traditional white cane. Read more here.

In Novosibirsk, created an ultrasonic smart cane for the blind

At the Novosibirsk State Technical University, NETI created a device that will help the blind to navigate. The press service of the university announced the development in July 2023. Read more here.

A smart cane with a processor for the blind has entered the market. Video

On May 17, 2023, the Swiss Higher Technical School of Zurich announced the development of a smart cane for the blind and visually impaired. A product called NextGuide is expected to make it much easier for such people to orient themselves on the ground - primarily in unfamiliar environments. Read more here.

A smart cane for the visually impaired has been developed. She helps to go shopping and in cafes

In late January 2023, researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder unveiled a smart cane that can help blind or visually impaired people navigate the environment, ranging from grocery shopping to finding a place in a busy cafe. Read more here.

2022: Russia has created a smart cane for the blind

At Cherepovets State University (ChSU), with the support of a grant allocated by the government of the Vologda region, they developed a smart cane for the blind. The device determines the distance to objects and recognizes obstacles in front of and on the sides of a person, the press service of the university said on July 25, 2022. Read more here.

Memory and language abilities

Many people believe that the blind have the finest hearing. However, in fact, it turned out that the blind distinguish weak sounds no better than the sighted.

But the memory of the blind is really better, especially in languages. Because they can't rely on vision and check things like "Did I put a glass on the counter?," they have to use their memory all the time.

It can be assumed that it is constant practice that helps them hone their spatial memory. In addition, they are better than sighted people, perform tasks related to foreign languages, including understanding proposals. The blind better identify where the sound came from, perhaps another way to trace where what is.

Blind people seem to improve all these abilities by taking advantage of the extra space in the brain that is not used for vision. Verbal memory tasks activate their primary visual cortex, which in sighted people participates only in the process of vision.

The blind study hippopotamus at the American Museum of Natural History, 1914.

2022: The first federal center for blind schoolchildren in Russia is being created in Moscow

In early June 2022, it became known about the creation in Moscow of the first federal center in Russia for blind schoolchildren. About 22 million rubles are allocated from the city budget for the implementation of the project, as well as 5 million rubles from the federal budget at the expense of the state program "Accessible Environment." Read more here.