Name: A prosthetic eye to treat blindness
Uploaded: 2011-12-20T16:08:37Z
Duration: 9 min 48 s
Description: At TEDMED, Sheila Nirenberg shows a bold way to create sight in people with certain kinds of blindness: by hooking into the optic nerve and sending signals from a camera direct to the brain.

Sheila Nirenberg: A prosthetic eye to treat blindness

A prosthetic eye to treat blindness

At TEDMED, Sheila Nirenberg shows a bold way to create sight in people with certain kinds of blindness: by hooking into the optic nerve and sending signals from a camera direct to the brain.

A new retinal prosthetic mimics how the eye translates images into neural codes, enabling blind retinas to send signals the brain can understand. For millions losing vision from retinal diseases, current devices only let them see crude shapes and lights. This innovative approach uses mathematical equations as a codebook, restoring more natural vision—even recognizing a baby’s face, not just a blur. Understanding and speaking the brain’s language unlocks new hope for restoring lost senses.