Solar Powered Retinal Implants
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 04.21.06
An implant that squirts chemicals into the back of your eye may not sound like much fun. But a solar-powered chip that stimulates retinal cells by spraying them with neurotransmitters could restore sight to blind people. Unlike other implants under development that apply an electric charge directly to retinal cells, the device does not cause the cells to heat up. It also uses very little power, so it does not need external batteries.
The prototype actuator consists of a flexible silicon disc just 1.5 millimetres in diameter and 15 micrometres thick. When light hits a silicon solar cell next to the disc it produces a voltage. The solar cell is connected to a layer of piezoelectric material called lead zirconate titanate (PZT), which changes shape in response to the voltage, pushing down on the silicon disc. :: New Scientist via Ecofriend
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This seems kinda cool and kinda scary at the same time!
Amazing.
Great, but WTF does this have to do with the enviroment and sustainability?
Because it's solar powered???
I didn't write this story so I can't say for sure, but I suspect that it's a mix of "cool new use for solar power" + "peoplehugging"...
I'm not going to say that this will stop global warming or anything, but this could be a boon to a lot of people. My family has a history of retinal detachment (think invasive surgery and sudden blindness), so maybe this could help combat that. I'm no optometrist, however, so I could be all wrong.
great.. "solar-powered" and it's automatically green.
Yes it's interesting, yes it's cool, yes it helps people.
Beyond that? It's just another gadget.
where does it get the neurotransmitters from tho. do u keep having 2 fill it up?