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Implantable pump to regulate fluids in the eye and preserve vision
Fraunhofer researchers are developing an implant that once inserted into the eye could regulate fluids to preserve vision (Credit: Fraunhofer EMFT)
When its levels are slightly off-kilter, eye fluid can create pretty big problems for our vision. When blockages occur they can lead to a build up in pressure that destroys the optic nerve and causes blindness, a condition we know as glaucoma. In contrast, a lack of fluid can cause the eye to cave in and stop functioning, a disease known as phthisis bulbi. Currently, little can be done about these irreversible conditions once they take hold, but Fraunhofer researchers have a potential solution in the works by way of a microscopic pump that can be implanted in the eyeball to regulate ocular pressure.
Though there are treatments available for both glaucoma and phthisis bulbi, these only slow the progression of damage and loss of vision, rather than reverse their symptoms. In glaucoma patients, this can involve surgically stimulating the flow of fluids from inside the eyeball's anterior chamber, but around one in four patients suffer scar tissue which in turn causes drainage problems. For phthisis bulbi patients, treatment sees fluid in the eye regularly topped up through injections, an uncomfortable process that still leaves the loss of vision inevitable.
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Microsysems and Modular Solid State Technologies (EMFT) are developing an implant that, once inserted into the eye, could regulate fluids and eye pressure without the need for these unpleasant procedures. The entire system uses a microscopic, silicon micro-membrane pump that measures just 7 x 7 x 1 cubic mm. Combined with a sensor-based control, a battery and a telemetry module for relaying data, the system can produce up to 30 micro liters of fluid per second.
In doing so, it can keep the eye moist where it would otherwise begin to dry up in sufferers of phthisis bulbi. Fraunhofer says that the fluid levels can be set by a physician on an outpatient basis with much more precision than traditional treatments. Because the fluid would be maintained at healthy levels, the team is hopeful that the system would stop the progression of the disease and preserve the patient's eyesight.
When it comes to glaucoma, the pump could also drain intraocular fluid as it builds up and creates pressure. This would be done using the natural channels for fluid drainage from the eye to avoid the forming of scar tissue.
At present, the researchers are developing a functional model to demonstrate the system's feasibility in the lab. Eventually, they hope to build a version that incorporates an implantable sensor to allow the regulation of fluids to be automated.
Source: Fraunhofer
Source: http://www.gizmag.com/implantable-eye-pump-ocular-pressure-glaucoma-phthisis-bulbi/38288/
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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