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You wouldn’t think that the ability to sort black, white and grey socks would be a big deal for a successful attorney, but when that lawyer is completely blind from retinitis pigmentosa (RP), and used a “bionic retina” to accomplish the simple task, well, that is a big deal.
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Archive for the Prosthetics Category
Ryan Lochte, I didn’t get a chance to meet. I did, however, get a picture taken with Michael J. Fox, who was very cordial but focused most of his attention—and rightly so—on a little girl with muscular dystrophy. Now, actor Steve Buscemi is a character and a half. I was there with Leah Bartos, who’s Mrs. New York, and because I’m Mrs. World, and the two of us were wearing crowns and sashes, he took a look at us and, before a photo was snapped, said, “Wow, let me get in between these two ladies.”
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A couple weeks ago, I was in China, to visit with Dr. Ruifang Sui, a Foundation-funded clinician-researcher at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing. During my time there, I felt like I had never left the United States. Don’t get me wrong — there’s no mistaking Beijing for Baltimore (the location of our national office) or Mandarin for English. But when it comes to retinal degenerations, we and the Chinese have a lot in common.
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Could the complex function of rods and cones — converting light into signals that the brain can interpret as vision — be replicated in a pair of high-tech glasses? Based on the recent research advances made by Dr. Sheila Nirenberg at Weill Cornell Medical College, it looks like a possibility.
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It was only a few days after what’s known as a “bionic retina” was implanted behind Miikka Terho’s left eye – the one that had completely lost vision 16 years previously – that he started to “see” again.
This past weekend, I had the pleasure and the privilege of participating in the 17th International Congress of Retina International in Hamburg, Germany. Retina International is a volunteer association of 33 national groups for people with retinal degenerations. The Congress is the European equivalent of the Foundation’s VISIONS conference. With research presentations translated into several languages, I felt like I was at the United Nations. I myself presented (in English) an update and review of many of the clinical trials underway for retinal degenerative diseases.
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The ideal way to deal with a disease like age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is to prevent it from causing vision loss in the first place. For example, Dr. Barbel Rohrer is developing a Foundation-funded drug that slows retinal degeneration, and resulting vision loss, by bolstering the energy supply of cells in the retina.
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Now that VISIONS 2012 is over, we’re sharing with the world what attendees witnessed at the conference’s awards dinner Saturday night – an unveiling of FFB’s new logo:
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Last February, I blogged about the emergence of “bionic” or artificial retinas for restoring some vision in people who are blind from retinal diseases. In that post, I featured Second Sight’s vision-restoring device, the Argus II, which is now on
the market in Europe and, hopefully, soon in the United States.
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Steve is highly respected for his expertise and tireless commitment to finding treatments and cures for vision-robbing retinal diseases. 
As the Foundation's senior science writer, Ben writes science and research articles for the Foundation’s website, newsletters and Eye on the Cure blog. 
As the Foundation's senior writer, Rich writes and edits content for all of the Foundation’s print and online publications, including its blog, Eye on the Cure. 
Stepping Lively – a Shoe in Development for the Visually Impaired
By Rich Shea on August 14, 2012 | 4 Comments
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