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British soldier
blinded in Iraq trials new technology to 'see' using his tongue
A British soldier blinded by a rocket propelled grenade attack in
Iraq almost three years ago is trialing groundbreaking new
technology that allows him to "see" using his tongue.Craig Lundberg,
24, is the first British soldier to test the BrainPort system,
which is billed as the next best thing to sight.
It consists of a pair of sunglasses fitted with a motion-sensor
video camera that transmits images to the wearer using an
electrode-laden pad on their tongue. If the trial proves
successful, the BrainPort system could be extended to other blind
service personnel.
Mr Lundberg said it has already made a considerable difference to
his quality of life.
“The BrainPort is a pair of glasses with a camera attached. The
glasses are made by Oakley so they are a pretty cool pair of
shades!" he said.
“And from the camera there is a lead that goes right onto my tongue.
Whatever the camera is looking at, I can feel the image on my
tongue.”
The end of the lead from the camera is shaped like a flat lollipop
and stimulates the tongue in the shape of the image picked up by the
camera. It can even distinguish between different shades of light,
reflecting them with varying strengths of pulse.
The feeling it gives is described as similar to champagne bubbles on
the tongue, which are picked up by the brain and interpreted into
images.
The new £10,000 device, which is joint-funded by the Ministry of
Defence and St Dunstan’s, the charity for blind ex-service people,
is so good that Mr Lundberg was able to make out the top letters
on an optician's eye test.
“I could feel with my tongue that the first letter was an A, and
then I moved onto the next one. It was amazing. Then I walked down a
corridor and I could make out the doorways, the walls and
people coming towards me," he said.
“It was the first time since Iraq that I had been able to do that.
The equipment needs a lot of work, but it has got huge potential. I
believe this could be the next best thing to getting my sight back.”
MoD eye surgeon Rob Scott said Mr Lundberg, from Liverpool, was the
"obvious choice" to test the technology since he understood his
disability well but did not let it hold him back. He has climbed
Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Help for Heroes, run the London
Marathon and played in the England Blind Football team since his
injury.
Together, the pair travelled to Pittsburg, America to try the
BrainPort before Mr Lundberg returned to the UK to try it for
six months in his day-to-day life before reporting back to doctors
and scientists.
“I am a realist. I know this isn’t going to give me my sight back,
but it could be the next best thing," Mr Lundberg said.
"Whatever I feel on my tongue is a live feed from the camera. I
don’t have to touch anything, or feel anything or be guided. I can
visualise things on my own just by wearing these glasses. It is
absolutely fantastic.
“I am very honest though. I will tell the doctors and the scientists
straight what I think of the technology - I won’t lie to them.
But so far I am impressed.”
Courtesy of The Telegraph
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New
therapy on market for partial sight loss sufferers
 Partial
sight loss is a debilitating side effect of stroke and brain injury
which affects tens of thousands of people each year.
But now a pioneering eye therapy which has
helped users regain some vision is set to become more widely
available.
The University of Aberdeen has launched new
spin out company Sight Science Ltd to offer its Neuro-Eye Therapy (NeET)
- likened to physiotherapy for the eyes - to patients across
Europe.
Sight Science is also hopeful that NeET could eventually become
available on the NHS.
Dr Ann Lewendon from the University of Aberdeen’s research and
commercialisation arm and a director of Sight Science, said:
“Following the enthusiastic responses from clinicians and major
successes in patients who have used the therapy, Sight Science has
been established to provide immediate access to those who can
benefit from the therapy. “Sight Science is also working towards
its aim of making the therapy available to NHS patients.”
Partial sight loss following stroke affects around 55,000 people
across Europe each year. There are also many thousands of people
who have suffered vision loss following a brain injury.
NeET is delivered via a home based interactive laptop package.
Patients have to respond to patterns shown on screen which
stimulate areas of the patient’s brain that have been injured
causing sight loss.
Following therapy, patients have reported
significant improvements in their sight which has given them
increased navigational skills, helping them to carry out everyday
activities such as crossing the road, as well as a better
concentration span.
Professor Arash Sahraie, Professor of Vision
Sciences at the University of Aberdeen and founder of Sight
Science, said: “Not too long ago, clinicians and scientists
generally thought that the adult brain after brain injury could not
be altered.
“But within the past decade, the concept of brain plasticity – when
the brain can adapt to and compensate for its circumstance – has
become well established.
“We now know that if we encourage a change in the brain, then
changes are likely to take place and if no intervention occurs, no
improvements are expected.
“The basis of the Neuro-Eye Therapy is similar to the approach
currently taken in rehabilitating movement and speech disorders
after stroke. “Patients using our interactive computer programme
are presented repeatedly and systematically with visual patterns
specifically designed to encourage plasticity within the injured
brain.
“Patients have reported an improvement in their sight as well as a
range of other benefits, including being able to get about more
easily, both inside and outside their homes, and finding reading
much less of a struggle.”
Sight Science patients are given a laptop and
chin rest and are required to complete the computer based exercise
– which takes around 30 minutes - once or twice daily over six
months. While it is not possible to guarantee improvements in all
cases, researchers say the majority of those who have used the
therapy have found it so successful that they have extended its
use.
For more about the therapy see
http://www.sightscience.com/ or visualrehabilitation or call
01224 619224.
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