Eyes

Computer Chips in My Retina?

Mechanical body parts aren´t new. Doctors have a large inventory of replaceable parts and artificial vision has been worked on for years. Name almost any disability and there´s probably research underway to overcome it. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have already implanted light-sensitive silicon computer chips in the eyes of 15 patients. The tiny silicon retinas provide a low-resolution 15-pixel image. Another doctor in New York state has built 64-pixel artificial-vision systems that relay images from a miniature videocamera connected to circuitry inside the skull. And his system will soon be improved to a 512-pixel resolution. So what are pixels anyway? A pixel is the name for a dot on the computer screen and everything on the screen is made-up of pixels. Pixels can be monochrome (black and white) or can be a different shade or color, which together make up a color image. To reference the above number of pixels twith regard to today s computer monitors, a small monitor usually has 640 x 480 resolution (or 640 pixels by 480 pixels) and higher resolutions are usually 1024 x 768.Image quality for artificial vision appliances will continue to improve as semiconductor technology packs silicon chips with more power. In a few more years, a blind individual could blend into the crowd and by 2020 (no pun intended) artificial eyes could rival that of the biological eye!Long before then, however, other man-made body parts will be developed, including, but limited to permanent mechanical heart implants, lungs and kidneys, synthetic muscles and artificial brain cells. Biotech engineers are figuring out how to tinker with genes and cure all kinds of ailments, so getting a makeover, could take on a whole new meaning in a few years.