Blindness: Soon to be a problem of the past?

Growing up as a young child there was nothing I feared more than the dark. It seemed that no matter where I was the darkness held a frightening sense of the unknown. Naturally, the condition that I feared the most then was one where your world becomes permanent darkness, I am speaking of course of going blind. To me, blindness was something to be feared as I couldn’t fathom being able to function without the use of my eyes. I was taught that the condition was debilitating , absolute and that above all, barring a miracle, it was mostly permanent. However, this permanency and absolute condition of blindness may be on the verge of being cast out by technology. In development right now is a machine that can project images, text, video, and more past the parts of people's eyes that are usually responsible for blindness and directly onto the retinas. This allows, in effect, for blind people to see these images once again.

The tool started out as a diagnostic device used to determine if patients had any retina left in their blind eyes. However, one patient, Elizabeth Goldring, decided that the device could also be used to bring sight back to blind. The original device, termed an SLO or a scanning laser ophthalmoscope, cost about 100,000 USD to buy, but Elizabeth went on a crusade to create a device that could be affordable and available for blind people to buy and use in their homes. To achieve her goals she contacted the inventor of the SLO and, after redesigning the device with a mind towards it purpose as a home viewing kit, managed to get the cost of the device down to 4,000 USD.

The current version of the device can project full color images to the back of a person's eye and can be set up on a desktop in your home. Additionally, a portable prototype is being tested where Goldring says it allows her to see faces and general details of people she would not be able to see otherwise. The device is not currently available for public sale and the next step is for the scientists at the MIT Media Lab to open testing to the general public.

Aside from this one device other companies are looking for ways to help people with disabilities as well. This video describes what one company is doing now to help the blind and dyslectic be able to "read" books through current mediums :



Although they are not trying to solve the problem of blindness in the same way as the previously mentioned device they are opening the printed world to those it was closed to before.

The fact that scientists are inventing ways to make the blind see is something straight out of a science fiction story of the recent past. Who would have imagined that those once thought to be beyond help would be able to once again enjoy all the benefits of being able to see. Additionally, once this project takes off the potential is astronomical. From here we could give these devices to children born blind so that they never have to experience life without sight if they don't want to. Also those with severely ailing vision will no longer have to suffer as they will know that they do have options other than accepting being blind. Ultimately, we are on the verge of curing what was thought to be a permanent fixture in life and as we master the world around us we are discovering ever better ways to ensure the success and survival of our species.

Sources:
http://www.livescience.com/health/060523_vision_restored.html
Livesciencejournal is a respected reporting site of the latest health news and provides a look at the breakthrough from a health and scientific perspective.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/158246/seeing_machine_helps_blind_see_pictures.html
Pcworld is also a well respected website used to report advances in computer technology and looks at the story from a more technical and computer based perspective.