For the first time, researchers have streamed braille patterns directly into a blind patient’s retina, allowing him to read four-letter words accurately and quickly with an ocular neuroprosthetic device, the Argus II (Second Sight). The implant uses a grid of 60 electrodes—attached to the retina—to stimulate patterns directly onto the nerve cells. For this study, researchers used a computer to stimulate six of these points on the grid to project the braille letters. The patient was shown each letter for half a second and had up to 80% accuracy for short words.
Primarily for patients with retinitis pigmentosa, the Argus II uses a small camera mounted on a pair of glasses, a portable processor to translate the electrical signal from the camera, and a microchip with electrodes implanted directly on the retina. But for this study, researchers bypassed the camera and stimulated the retina directly.
