New glasses uses tongue to help blind see
By IANSWednesday, December 8, 2010
LONDON - A British policeman who was blinded by a gunman earlier this year could soon have his sight restored thanks to a device that uses his tongue to help him see.
David Rathband lost his sight when he was shot in the face while on patrol in July this year. The 42-year-old is now taking part in a trial of the BrainPort device.
He said: “The thought of being able to see my wife and children again is just amazing.”
The device involves a camera mounted on a pair of glasses being connected to a sensor on the patient’s tongue, which then sends signals from the camera to the brain, bypassing the user’s damaged eyesight, reports the Daily Mail.
The BrainPort has already changed the life of Lance Corporal Craig Lundber, who was blinded by a grenade in Iraq and was the first Briton to try out the device. He can now read words, identify shapes and walk unaided.
A camera attached to the glasses captures a moving image. The BrainPort device transfers the image via a cable to a lollipop attachment on the tongue.
Electrodes tingle on the tongue to reflect the image with darker areas creating stronger pulses.
Rathband said he was ‘excited’ but ‘guarded’ about building up his hopes. “They are saying I will be able to identify objects,” he said.
Hundreds of shotgun pellets remain in Rathband’s face after he was blasted by the crazed gunman, Raoul Moat, while sitting unarmed in his patrol car.
