Transformational Optics Metamaterial Leads To Development Of Improved Invisibility Cloak

A new metamaterial based on transformational optics has been engineered that can successfully split light waves around an object. This can lead to advancements in fiber optics as well as in the development of a more advanced cloaking device or as it is popularly known, an invisibility cloak.

Bionic Eye, Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System, Gets Approval Recommendation From US FDA

The Argus II retinal prosthesis system is called the bionic eye. It is a retinal implant that is used to send image data straight to the brain. The California company, Second Sight, developed Argus II. Their goal with the Argus II is to provide sight to people who have been blinded from outer retinal degenerations, such as retinitis pigmentosa.

Retinitis Pigmentosa is an eye disease where the retina of the eye is damaged. The retina is locaated at the back of the eye and is responsible for converting light images to nerve signals that the brain can interpret.

The Argus II works by bypassing damaged photoreceptor tissues in the eye. The patient wears special eyeglasses that houses a small video camera, wireless transmitter, and is connected to a small computer worn by the person. The camera captures the image which the computer processes and converts into data that the brain can understand. The wireless transmitter then sends these signals to the eye implant which transmits it directly to the optic nerve, sending the signal directly to the brain.

The eye is implanted with a wireless receiver that receives the data from the glasses and an electrical array that sends it straight to the optic nerve. (See video below).

The optical system is named after the Greek mythological giant, Argus Panoptes. Argus had 100 eyes and was the servant of the goddess, Hera. Argus was considered all-seeing and was relied upon by Hera to stand guard and monitor things.

FDA recommends approval for Second Sight's Argus II retinal prosthesis system in the USA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Ophthalmic Devices Advisory Panel unanimously voted 19-0 that the probable benefit of the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System outweighs the risks to health, an important step toward the FDA market approval of this product manufactured by Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. In making this determination, the panel spent ten hours carefully reviewing and discussing data submitted from the international clinical trial of this innovative retinal implant that, for the first time ever, partially restores vision to patients who are blind due to Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP).

Physicists Devise A Way Using Squeezed Light In Measuring Distance

Non-classical light is light that has characteristics described through quantum mechanics and not using real world or classical properties. One type of non-classical light is squeezed light.

Squeezed light put simply is light that is manipulated in the quantum level through the generation of photons. Since the number of photons in a beam of light is random, squeezed light is generated with a steady number of photons in the beam. It can be said that the number of photons travelling in the light beam from squeezed light is a constant.

The result of using squeezed light is that quantum noise (random fluctuations in the wavelength) is reduced significantly. This makes measuring distance and targets more precise. Also with less noise, transmitted signals are clearer.

Since the photons are constant in squeezed light with minimal quantum noise, any fluctuations recorded are from outside source and not a result of that noise.

Applications for squeezed light range from using it for communication (fiber optics), measuring distance, and detecting gravitational waves. It is also being used in quantum cryptography where code keys are transmitted via squeezed light.

Light squeezed on a quantum scale

An international team of physicists has pushed the boundaries on ultra-precise measurement by harnessing quantum light waves in a new way.

It is one thing to be able to measure spectacularly small distances using "squeezed" light, but it is now possible to do this even while the target is moving around.

An Australian-Japanese research collaboration made the breakthrough in an experiment conducted at the University of Tokyo, the results of which have been published in an article, "Quantum-enhanced optical phase tracking" in the prestigious journal, Science.

Photoswitch Chemical AAQ May Restore Vision To The Blind

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is an eye disease that affects the macula. The macula is a part of the retina. The retina sends light from the eye to the brain, and the macula allows the person to see the fine detail of the image.

AMD blurs the sharp central vision needed for straight-ahead activities such as reading, sewing, and driving. There are two forms of AMD: dry macular degeneration and wet macular degeneration.

AMD is painless and the progression of AMD is slow that people notice little change in their vision. In others, the disease progresses faster and may lead to a loss of vision in both eyes. AMD is a common eye condition among people age 50 and older. It is a leading cause of vision loss in older adults.

Chemical makes blind mice see; compound holds promise for treating humans

A team of University of California, Berkeley, scientists in collaboration with researchers at the University of Munich and University of Washington in Seattle has discovered a chemical that temporarily restores some vision to blind mice, and is working on an improved compound that may someday allow people with degenerative blindness to see again.

The approach could eventually help those with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic disease that is the most common inherited form of blindness, as well as age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of acquired blindness in the developed world. In both diseases, the light sensitive cells in the retina — the rods and cones — die, leaving the eye without functional photoreceptors.

The chemical, called AAQ, acts by making the remaining, normally "blind" cells in the retina sensitive to light, said lead researcher Richard Kramer, UC Berkeley professor of molecular and cell biology. AAQ is a photoswitch that binds to protein ion channels on the surface of retinal cells. When switched on by light, AAQ alters the flow of ions through the channels and activates these neurons much the way rods and cones are activated by light.

Restoring Vision Through Stem Cell Regeneration of Retina and Optic Cup of the Eye

This is a human ES cell-derived optic cup generated in our self-organization culture (culture day 26). Bright green, neural retina; off green, pigment epithelium; blue, nuclei; red, active myosin (strong in the inner surface of pigment epithelium).
Credit: Nakano et al. Cell Stem Cell Volume 10 Issue 6

Stem cells are cells that have the ability to form into most types of biological cells in the body.

In terms of human stem cells, these cells can be made into various human cells and tissues. This technology has great potential to treat otherwise untreatable diseases and conditions. Stem cells can repair and even replace diseased cells in organs and tissues. It can even assist in organ regeneration.

Advances in stem cell research has expanded the procurement of stem cells. During the early years of stem cell study, the cells were harvested from human embryos which have caused it to be a moral issue since embryos can develop into a human fetus.

Today there are processes in gathering stem cells that generate four types of stem cells, these are:

1. Embryonic Stem Cell
2. Nuclear Transplant Stem Cell
3. Parthenote Stem Cell
4. Induced Stem Cell

The first three types require a fertilized egg cell to form. Induced stem cells are generated by modifying the genetic structure of a normal cell to activate its stem cell properties.

Scientists see new hope for restoring vision with stem cell help

Human-derived stem cells can spontaneously form the tissue that develops into the part of the eye that allows us to see, according to a study published by Cell Press in the 5th anniversary issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell. Transplantation of this 3D tissue in the future could help patients with visual impairments see clearly.

"This is an important milestone for a new generation of regenerative medicine," says senior study author Yoshiki Sasai of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology. "Our approach opens a new avenue to the use of human stem cell-derived complex tissues for therapy, as well as for other medical studies related to pathogenesis and drug discovery."