Retinal Implants

Retinal Implants
Over the course of time the subretinal devices will surpass the effectiveness of epiretnal and cortical ones. A rule of biomedical engineering is to try and make the device as simple as possible. This way less things can possibly go wrong because the more things you try to mimic the more room there is for error. The cortical implants replace more organs than the subretinal and epiretnal ones. The optic nerve is used to convert collected light into electrical signals. In cortical devices the programmers have to do this on their own. There is a much better chance that the already present optic nerve would create a better mental image than a programmer trying to understand the body’s encoding system. Also in epiretnal devices a similar process goes on in which a “smart” computer chip has to convert stimuli from an external camera into electrical impulses that the brain can understand. Another problem with the other two devices is that they are not utilizing something very complicated and effective that is already there, the other part of the retina that is not damaged. Using the actual retina instead of an external camera would help the patient have a better sense of real eyesight. With cameras on glasses the patient would only get a forward view and would not get the advantages of peripheral vision. Subretinal devices would allow the person to “look around” by actually moving their eyes without having to move their head. It is this advantage of utilizing the already present organs and reducing the complexity of the device that will make the subretinal devices superior to the others.