THE BRAINPORT
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Neuroscientist Paul Bach-y-Rita hypothesized in the 1960s that "we see with our brains not our eyes." Now, a new device trades on that thinking and aims to partially restore the experience of vision for the blind and visually impaired by relying on the nerves on the tongue's surface to send light signals to the brain.
Legal blindness is defined by U.S. law as vision that is 20/200 or worse, or has a field of view that is less than 20 degrees in diameter. The condition afflicts more than one million Americans over the age of 40, according to the National Institutes of Health. Adult vision loss costs the country about $51.4 billion per year.
About two million optic nerves are required to transmit visual signals from the retina—the portion of the eye where light information is decoded or translated into nerve pulses—to the brain's primary visual cortex. With BrainPort, the device being developed by neuroscientists at Middleton, Wisc.–based Wicab, Inc. (a company co-founded by the late Back-y-Rita), visual data are collected through a small digital video camera about 1.5 centimeters in diameter that sits in the center of a pair of sunglasses worn by the user. Bypassing the eyes, the data are transmitted to a handheld base unit, which is a little larger than a cell phone. This unit houses such features as zoom control, light settings and shock intensity levels as well as a central processing unit (CPU), which converts the digital signal into electrical pulses—replacing the function of the retina.
From the CPU, the signals are sent to the tongue via a "lollipop," an electrode array about nine square centimeters that sits directly on the tongue. Each electrode corresponds to a set of pixels. White pixels yield a strong electrical pulse, whereas black pixels translate into no signal. Densely packed nerves at the tongue surface receive the incoming electrical signals, which feel a little like Pop Rocks or champagne bubbles to the user.
It remains unclear whether the information is then transferred to the brain's visual cortex, where sight information is normally sent, or to its somatosensory cortex, where touch data from the tongue is interpreted, Wicab neuroscientist Aimee Arnoldussen says. "We don't know with certainty," she adds.
Like learning to ride a bike
In any case, within 15 minutes of using the device, blind people can begin interpreting spatial information via the BrainPort, says William Seiple, research director at the nonprofit vision healthcare and research organization Lighthouse International. The electrodes spatially correlate with the pixels so that if the camera detects light fixtures in the middle of a dark hallway, electrical stimulations will occur along the center of the tongue.
"It becomes a task of learning, no different than learning to ride a bike," Arnoldussen says, adding that the "process is similar to how a baby learns to see. Things may be strange at first, but over time they become familiar."
Seiple works with four patients who train with the BrainPort once a week and notes that his patients have learned how to quickly find doorways and elevator buttons, read letters and numbers, and pick out cups and forks at the dinner table without having to fumble around. "At first, I was amazed at what the device could do," he said. "One guy started to cry when he saw his first letter."
Wicab will submit BrainPort to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval at the end of the month, says Robert Beckman, president and chief executive officer of the company. He notes that the device could be approved for market by the end of 2009 at a cost of about $10,000 per machine.
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32 Comments
Add CommentI am blind. I am a member of the Blind community (uppercase intentional). I do not wish to ape the sighted by learning to ride a bicycle or seeing colors. I assume there must be other blind individuals (lowercase intentional) who do, and I hope they do not find this device awkward or demeaning. However, to those of us who are both Blind and sarcastic, this device is just another way to shut us up.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI wonder if this could be of use to firefighters.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGood one.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLOL at the Sarcastic sight impared person, I dought seriously if this thing would shut my freind up. Besides it does not look demeaning at all maybe like she has her ear buds in her mouth and holding an Ipod using it like a flashlight. the glassess are not very obtrusive either.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think it would require a time to train
The plasticity and adaptability of the human mind beggars belief. Who needs miracles and messiahs to give sight to the blind when the Greatest Story Ever Told takes place everyday in our living brains!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe plasticity and adaptability of the human mind beggars belief. Who needs miracles and messiahs to give sight to the blind when the Greatest Story Ever Told takes place everyday in our living brains!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo a person that can see should be able to use this method.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI would very much like them to have and artist use this with eyes closed and then draw what he saw.
Very very impressive i didn't even know anyone was doing something at this level.
Not stupid looking at all.
What a tremendous invention. I hope that people can make a free choice to use it without blowhard bigots giving them a hard time.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYeah, this is really cool. I'm not blind and I can see myself using it for other applications. Wow, enter the matrix, the matrix of CPU pixels.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThose who are intrigued by this should pick u a copy of Norman Doidge's "The Brain That Changes Itself." It has an account of Bach-y-Rita's early experiments and other therapies that use the brain's ability to reorganize itself. Great reading!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMy brother has been blind since birth and is an amazingly independent business person. His intelligence is astounding and my opinion is that he would be the perfect candidate to test the Brainport. His name is Jerry Berrier and he can be reached at 508-735-4420. He is 57 years old and in perfect health. Recently retired from Bell Telephone of Massachusetts but is still active as a consultant for visually impaired people.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMy mum has been totally blind for almost a year. I would be keen on having a trial of this with her. Are there any machines in Australian yet?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhatever happened to teaching blind children echo location? I heard a while back that blind children all over the states were starting to pick it up after one blind kid taught himself how to do it. I remember thinking about the superhero Dare Devil at the time, and also wouldn't it be cool if I could do that!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThanks for your reference paulbennett. I'm always looking for good additional reading.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBy the way there was a great Nova presentation on this recently.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIsn't it obvious that this is the type of research to which money should be devoted, rather than to ever more clever ways to kill and maim people around the world ?...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHenri
As someone dealing with the slow loss of vision from diabetic retinopathy, I find this article heartening. I realize there are many ways that the blind can retain independence, and another choice (such as this device) can only be good. I hope it's perfected soon. Definitely worth keeping up with it's progress.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCan't wait to get the Ford Foundation, Gates Foundation and other well-known foundations to open their eyes and help fund Bach-y-Rita's company to help bring the cost down.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWow! What a concept! Congrats to the scientists!
I am happy that this is available. It is good to see how hard these people are working, generally unnoticed, to help humankind. It goes to show---Always have high hope for the future. Not as irrational sometimes as it seems.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCool. But the price is totally arbitrary and strictly corporate. The actual production of such a device wouldn't exceed a couple hundred US. Also, stereo (two cameras... or three) would produce an actual 3D model of the field in front of the wearer, and provide more realistic data.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisas someone that is fast losing there sight this really is an exciting and comforting discovery.im 34 and have a degenerative eye disease and will with certainty be blind within 2 years.this is a truly terrifying thought and iv spent alot of sleepless nights worrying how im going to cope and what life will be like.this gives me alot of hope. thank you.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat could happen if the person with that gadget eats chili con carne or some other really spicy food? Don't affect the "vision"?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this$10k is a ridiculous price. It's a couple hundred dollars worth of electronics at most. More along the lines of a third year EE project. In fact, I might try making one myself.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think this is absolutely brilliant. If snakes can see with their tongues accurately why couldn't humans.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisim curious to know if blind people who have been diagnosed with retnitis pigmentosa can benefit from this device. My mother is blind and im interested in helping her see her children and grandchildren again. I am willing to do anything to help her. Please contact me
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thismercedes1082@aol.com
can this brainport help my nephew who has been blind for 8 years? his optic nerve has died. thanks, it would be wonderful for him to see his daughter, who now is 9
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiscan this brainport help my nephew who has been blind for 8 years? his optic nerve has died. thanks, it would be wonderful for him to see his daughter, who now is 9
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOMG that is so cool. In a few decades from now, if scientists perfect this, it'll be totally normal to see people walking around with weird glasses on. In fact, it would be very normal, considering that one of the last remaining factors of human evolution, domination of the seeing, would be defeated and blindness would be just short of equal to sight.Nah, maybe it ain't so cool. Humans have a very bad habit of overusing technology.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMany thanks for sharing this great and awesome information.i liked your words....<a href="http://www.gunnars.com/indoor.php">gaming eyeglasses</a>
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhile a brilliant idea, I don't want to know how I taste/see or whatever the term would be. It would probably be similar to tasting pickle juice and cottage cheese.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo... If the user has a congested nose, there's a choice between breathing and seeing? Obviously breathing wins, so the common cold blinds the user for over a week?!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHey check this movie. You will change your mind. See with tongue.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdQi-HYVM1Q or see their website www.seewithtongue.info