Artifical vision for the blind: electrical stimulation of visual cortex offers hope for a functional prosthesis

Electrical stimulation of the occipital cortex resulted in discrete photic sensations or "phosphenes" in two volunteers who had been totally blind for 7 and 28 years, respectively. Stimulation of multiple electrodes allowed one patient to recognize simple patterns, including letters. Both...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1974-02, Vol.183 (4123), p.440-444
Main Authors: Dobelle, W H, Mladejovsky, M G, Girvin, J P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Blindness - therapy
Electric Stimulation
Electrodes, Implanted
Humans
Male
Prostheses and Implants
Visual Cortex
Visual Perception
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Summary:Electrical stimulation of the occipital cortex resulted in discrete photic sensations or "phosphenes" in two volunteers who had been totally blind for 7 and 28 years, respectively. Stimulation of multiple electrodes allowed one patient to recognize simple patterns, including letters. Both patients made an uneventful recovery, and the success of these experiments reinforces the hope that a functional visual prosthesis can be developed, although many problems remain to be solved.
ISSN:0036-8075