Bionic eye could be restoring sight as early as 2013 [Bionic Eye]

After over a decade of work, a group of researchers at Bionic Vision Australia have created a prototype of a surgically inserted eye implant that could see real-world applications in as little as three years.

To call it a 'bionic eye' really only addresses part of it, as the entire setup involves the implant, a pair of glasses with a camera, and a tiny processor you keep in your pocket. The camera feeds footage to the processor, which interprets the sensory information and then wirelessly sends images to the eye implant, which in turn stimulates the neurons of the retina to translate that visual data and encourage your brain to create images from it.

The Australian government has invested nearly million in the technology, and the country's prime minister, Kevin Rudd, hails it as 'one of the most important medical advances we see in our lifetime,' commenting that it 'has the potential to restore sight to thousands of people in Australia and across the world.'

It won't offer perfect vision, though it will allow those who have lost their vision to see images recreated from light. Bionic Vision Australia released a video to show what this might look like when showing off an earlier prototype of its technology (pictured above). Check it all out below.



[DVICE via Bionic Vision Australia via PhysOrg]

Color-Shifting Contact Lenses Alert Diabetics to Glucose Levels [Contacts]

Diabetics are saddled with the unenviable task of checking their blood sugar levels constantly. But a new non-invasive technology lets diabetics keep tabs on their glucose levels with contact lenses that change colors as their blood sugar rises and falls.

Nanoparticles — is there anything they can't do? — embedded in the hydrogel lenses react with glucose molecules in naturally occurring tears. A chemical reaction then causes the lenses to shift their hues, alerting the wearer to falling or spiking blood sugar levels. The wearer can then make the appropriate adjustments to his or her blood sugar, all without having to carry around (and use) devices for drawing and analyzing blood.

U. of Western Ontario Professor Jin Zhang has just collected $216,000 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation as a result of the breakthrough process to develop other applications for multifunctional nanocomposites, which can be used in everything from biomedicine to food preservation to packaging. We think a head-up display for glucose levels is pretty good, but if nanocomposites can also make the packaging on that blood-sugar-leveling candy bar biodegrade more quickly, all the better.

[Gizmodo via Institute of Nanotechnology]

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