Is it possible to restore sight to a blind person? The Ministry of Health promises to restore sight to blind Russians free of charge Simple gymnastics for the eyes

Let us clarify right away: we are not talking about a complete copy of the organ of vision, which replaces the blind eye. Unlike, say, a prosthetic arm or leg, which externally accurately reproduces the lost body part. An “artificial eye” is a design consisting of glasses, a mini-camera, a video signal converter that is attached to the belt, and a chip implanted into the retina. Such solutions, combining living and nonliving, biology and technology, are called bionic in science.

The first owner of a bionic eye in Russia was a 59-year-old milling fitter Grigory Ulyanov from Chelyabinsk.

“Our patient is the 41st in the world to undergo such an operation,” AiF explained. Minister of Health Veronika Skvortsova. - He saw until he was 35 years old. Then vision began to narrow from the periphery to the center and completely went out by the age of 39. So this interesting technology allows a person to return from darkness. A chip is placed on the retina, which creates a digital image of the image by transforming the image recorded by the video camera of the glasses through a special converter. This digital image is transmitted through the preserved optic nerve to the cerebral cortex. The most important thing is that the brain recognizes these signals. Of course, vision is not restored 100%. Since the processor implanted into the retina has only 60 electrodes (something like pixels in screens, for comparison: modern smartphones have a resolution of 500 to 2000 pixels - Ed.), the image appears more primitive. It is black and white and consists of geometric shapes. Let’s say such a patient sees the door as a black letter “P”. Nevertheless, this is much better than the first version of the device with 30 electrodes allowed.

Of course, the patient requires long-term rehabilitation. He needs to be taught to understand visual images. Gregory is very optimistic. As soon as the analyzer was connected, it immediately saw spots of light and began counting the number of light bulbs on the ceiling. We really hope that his brain retained the old visual images, because the patient lost his vision in adulthood. By influencing the brain with special rehabilitation programs, it is possible to force it to “connect” the symbols that it now receives with the images that are stored in memory from the time the person saw.”

Will everyone see the light?

This is the first such experience in our country. Performed the operation Director of the Research Center of Ophthalmology, Russian National Research Medical University named after. Pirogova ophthalmologist surgeon Hristo Takhchidi. “The patient is now at home, feels well, saw his granddaughter for the first time,” says Professor Kh. Takhchidi. - His training proceeds at an accelerated pace. The engineering guys from the USA, who came to connect the electronics a couple of weeks after the operation, were surprised at how quickly he mastered the operation of the system. This is an amazing person, determined to win. And his optimism is passed on to the doctors. There are several training programs. Now he is learning to take care of himself in everyday life - cook food, clean up after himself. The next step is to master the most necessary routes: to the store, pharmacy. Next, learn to clearly see the boundaries of objects, for example a pedestrian path. The emergence of better technology, and therefore better vision restoration, is just around the corner. Remember what you were like Cell phones 10-15 years ago and what they are like now. The main thing is that the patient is socially rehabilitated. Can serve itself."

True, for now we can only be proud of the virtuoso performance. All technology, as well as the design, are imported. Not cheap. The device alone costs 160 thousand dollars. And the entire technology costs 1.5 million dollars. However, there is hope that domestic devices will soon appear.

“We started developing a retinal implant together with the First St. Petersburg State medical university them. Pavlova. Of course, it will be cheaper and more accessible to patients than imported ones,” AiF reassured Chief ophthalmologist of the Ministry of Health, Director of the Research Institute of Eye Diseases named after. Helmholtz Vladimir Neroev.

It must be said that the development of a bionic eye has been going on for 20 years in laboratories in the USA, Japan, Germany, and Australia. In 1999, a chip was implanted into the retina of a blind patient for the first time in the United States. True, the results have not yet been advertised. This technique has many disadvantages. Firstly, the patient must be taught for a long time to understand visual images, that is, he must initially have high level intelligence. The ocular pathologies for which this technology can be used are very limited. These are diseases associated with damage to the eye cells that convert light into electrical signals. In such cases, you can use a device that will do this work instead of damaged cells. But the optic nerve must be preserved. In the West, they have already gone further and developed chips that are implanted into the cerebral cortex in order to bypass the pathways of the eye and directly transmit the signal to the visual area of the brain. Such an “eye” can be used in patients with wider pathology (when the optic nerve is broken or its complete atrophy has occurred, it is impossible to transmit an impulse from the chip to the retina). Neurosurgeons do this. At the moment, nothing is known about the results - they are classified.

In the meantime, the bionic direction in Russia is actively developing in other areas. In particular, when creating bionic prosthetic arms and legs. Another application of bionics is hearing restoration devices. “The first cochlear implantation was done in Russia 10 years ago,” says Veronika Skvortsova. - Now we make more than a thousand of them a year and are among the top three in the world. All newborn babies undergo audiological screening. If there are certain irreversible hearing impairments, implantation is performed without a queue. Children develop just like hearing children, learn to speak normally and do not lag behind in development.”

MOSCOW, January 19 - RIA Novosti. People who have lost their sight as a result of accidents or non-hereditary diseases are unlikely to regain full vision due to the fact that the structure of the visual centers and associated neurons in the human brain changes irreversibly, Canadian neurophysiologists say in an article published in the Journal of Neurophysiology .

"We had the rare opportunity to study the case of a woman who suffered from low vision from birth and whose vision was suddenly restored in adulthood after implantation of an artificial cornea in her right eye. On the one hand, we found that the visual cortex of the brain retains the ability to It takes a long time to form new connections, but on the other hand, we found that even after several months after the operation, the vision centers still did not restore their normal functioning,” explains Giulia Dormal from the University of Montreal (Canada).

Dormal and her colleagues found perhaps the fundamental and most serious obstacle to vision restoration by studying the case of a 50-year-old Quebec woman who underwent surgery to implant an artificial cornea. Such procedures last several weeks, which gave scientists a chance to monitor how the patient's brain reacted to the sudden "resurrection" of the eyes and the dramatic improvement in visual acuity.

Tomographic images taken before the start of the operation showed that the visual centers elderly woman were for the most part “reprogrammed” to solve other problems. For example, they responded much more strongly to sound stimuli than to pictures that the researchers showed the patient.

However, not all was lost - after the cornea implantation, despite decades of almost complete blindness, the visual centers in the woman’s cerebral cortex began to gradually switch to normal operation and serve information coming from the eyes.

However, as they observed further, neurophysiologists noticed something strange - the rate of recovery of the visual centers slowed down sharply, and even seven months after the transplant was completed, a significant part of the cortex in this part of the brain responded not to visual, but to sound stimuli. This problem did not go unnoticed for the patient’s vision - despite the absence of problems with the eye itself, her visual acuity still remained below normal.

This fact, as scientists believe, can serve as an insurmountable obstacle to all projects to restore vision using cybernetic analogues of the eye or artificially grown parts of it.

New super technologies for vision restoration, which were demonstrated by Russian scientists - Professor of the Laser Academy Oleg Pankov and Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences Grigory Grabov, make it possible to repeat the miracles described in the Bible.

Using a laser, the optic nerves were restored in two completely blind patients. And people saw the light.

Professor Pankov compared his laser technique for restoring vision to homeopathy. In this science there is a law of reversal of the disease: the body, as it were, scrolls it backwards. So it is in the new technique: if an impulse is given to an atrophied optic nerve and the “extinguished” eye, then the forgotten ones are reborn protective forces, and those “spare parts” - amino acids, enzymes, proteins and DNA molecules - flow to the sore spot, from which the nerve is reassembled.

In the clinic, the patient is put on Pankov’s impulse glasses - they “get the disease off the ground,” and drops are given as “spare parts” for the eye tissues - natural plant extracts, amino acids and antioxidants that soften the restoration and healing of the optic nerves, retina, retina, and so on. In just a few sessions, vision is restored in the most hopeless cases without any scalpel or sophisticated chemistry.

This is a natural method, explains Oleg Pankov, and it is much better than implanting nerves grown in a test tube, as is done today in Europe and America. And incomparably better than creating a cyber-eye in place of a damaged one, as recently demonstrated in the USA. There, scientists replaced the optic nerve of a blind person with a miniature computer CHIP. But there is no need to make electronic prostheses to restore vision.

The scientist compares the action of his device to developing a photograph, but only in a three-dimensional holographic version. In principle, this is similar to the well-known method of computer holographic electroplating, but it replaces bones not with natural materials, but with metal or plastic parts.

Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences Grigory Grabovoi created a device in which only one pulse does the work. Passed through special crystals and amplified by light, this impulse restored not only the eye, but also the jaw, destroyed by a cancerous tumor. Miracles? Yes, but they are registered by strict commissions, UN and UNESCO specialists.

A ray passed through a cascade of crystals seems to thicken matter, arranging it in the form of living tissues and organs. This seems fantastic. But that person, whose eye was destroyed by a cancerous tumor, experienced a wonderful technology and today is alive, healthy, and has good vision.

Alexander KAPKOV.

At the request of the Tribune, famous scientists comment on the sensational operation

Ernst MULDASHEV Director of the Center for Plastic Eye Surgery, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor:

I have no doubt about the possibility of the results obtained by Professor Pankov and Academician Grabovoi. There is nothing supernatural here. And in our center we managed to do something similar. The patient suffered from uveitis for 17 years; one eye was completely dry. But we sewed the retina and some other tissues taken from the corpse into the fundus of her eye. The result was a very rough, wrinkled structure with no pupil. We filled it with intercellular substance.

And a miracle happened: the eye began to regenerate. It began to sprout blood vessels, the optic nerve entered it and came into contact with the retina. Finally, the round pupil grew and the lens began to form. The patient began to see, although poorly. But the eye regeneration process continues, and there is hope for a complete cure.

Petr GARYAEV, Head of the Laboratory of Wave Genetics, Institute of Control Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor:

I believe that Pankov, Grabovoi and Muldashev managed to awaken a wave memory of the lost eye in the patients’ bodies. When a person loses an arm or a leg, much less an eye, they do not grow back, like a lizard's tail or a crab's claw. But if we turn on the genetic apparatus, we can regenerate anything.

Everyone knows the simplest cases of regeneration: our cut hair and nails grow back. Few people know of a more complex case - the liver from which a piece was cut off is restored. And our ophthalmologists managed to do what was previously considered completely impossible - to launch the most complex version of regeneration, when a lost organ is restored. After all, the memory of the eye is preserved in the form of wave structures that fill the orbit. And on this wave frame a new eye is formed.

Vladimir CHERNY, chief researcher at the Institute of General Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor:

I was one of the pioneers of laser medicine: I have patents in this field dating back to 79 and 80. Therefore, I can judge, as a specialist, the eye regeneration technology of Professor Pankov and his associates. This technology is extremely competitive all over the world, it has great practical potential, and it can be a great commercial success. It needs to be widely implemented in Russia. But, alas, our big medicine maintains an arrogant silence about it or subjects it to unfounded criticism.

But Western institutions praise this technology in every possible way and vying with each other to invite our specialists to work for them. If this continues, then not only brains and eyes will flow away from Russia - or rather, people who are capable of restoring them. And in a few years we will have to buy our own methodology from the West for crazy money.

Vladimir NEROEV, and. O. Deputy Director for Science of the Helmholtz Moscow Research Institute of Eye Diseases, Doctor of Medical Sciences:

I understand that journalists and newspaper readers who do not have medical education, it is very difficult to analyze and critically evaluate information about the works of Pankov, Muldashev and Grabovoi. But believe me, this is unscientific: it is impossible to grow eye tissue from some substances under the influence of some radiation. For ophthalmologists, this sounds like nonsense, gobbledygook. This is the same as saying: on the desk we grew a whole fountain pen from a piece of it, without adding the missing parts. May Professor Pankov, who comes from our institute, forgive me for my harshness.

As for Mr. Muldashev, the Presidium of the Russian Ophthalmological Society recently met regarding his sensational speeches in periodicals and on television and asked a colleague to provide extracts from outpatient records and scientific publications for studying medical history. But for some reason he did not provide any materials, and the presidium doubted the reliability of Mr. Muldashev’s statements..

Tomographic images taken before the operation began showed that the elderly woman's visual centers were for the most part "reprogrammed" to solve other problems. For example, they responded much more strongly to sound stimuli than to pictures that the researchers showed the patient.

This fact, as scientists believe, can serve as an insurmountable obstacle to all projects to restore vision using cybernetic analogues of the eye or artificially grown parts of it.

Retrobulbar neuritis is characterized by damage to a nerve located outside eyeball or within it (in different sources you can find a distinctive formulation). 90% of retrobulbar optic neuritis is autoimmune disease of unknown origin, i.e. no one knows the exact cause of the development of the disease. It’s just that, for some inexplicable reason, a person begins to produce antibodies to the optic nerve, and it becomes inflamed.

Most often, the disease occurs in fairly young people, aged 24 to 38 years. As a result of nerve atrophy, a person may completely or partially lose vision. Depending on how severely the nerve is affected, treatment is selected that can stop the progression of the disease and restore vision.

Causes of the disease

No one knows the exact cause of optic nerve pathology. Often retrobulbar neuritis has the same symptoms as multiple sclerosis. Often it is a symptom of this dangerous incurable disease, which often leads to complete disability of a person. There are also several diseases that are clinically similar to retrobulbar neuritis.

This ischemic neuropathy optic nerve (ischemic neuritis), thrombosis and ischemia of the optic nerve. Clinically, these diseases can be very similar, so before prescribing treatment, the doctor must conduct differential diagnosis, which will help exclude one disease and confirm another.

Among the factors that provoke the development of the disease are the presence of:

Past or recent brain injury.
Brain pathologies (tumors that can put pressure on the optic nerve, thereby disrupting the functioning of the visual organs).
Infectious and non-communicable diseases meninges. Such a disorder may occur as a result of encephalitis, meningitis, etc.
Pathological pregnancy.
Chronic diseases that can cause retrobulbar neuritis. Such diseases include tuberculosis, syphilis, brucellosis, etc.
Severe poisoning of the body caused by the use of drugs, alcoholic beverages and overdose of certain medications.
Diseases of viral and infectious origin.

To identify the exact cause of retrobulbar neuritis, you will need a comprehensive full examination and medical history.

This pathology is quite serious and can cause partial or complete loss of vision. Therefore, it is very important to go to the doctor at the first signs and symptoms.

Classification of the disease

Like any other disease, retrobulbar neuritis develops in stages. Depending on the form of damage to the optic nerve and the eyeball as a whole, the following can be distinguished:

The peripheral form of the disease, which develops as a continuation of the main disease. This form is characterized by inflammation of only the sheaths of nerve fibers.
Interstitial neuritis, which affects the meninges and peripheral parts.
With axial neuritis, inflammation and destruction of the papillomacular bundle of the optic nerve occurs.

The most dangerous is the transversal form of the disease, in which severe dysfunction of the visual apparatus is detected. First, inflammation develops in the axial fascicle and periphery, then gradually affects neighboring areas. If left untreated, the disease can change from one type to another, worsening the situation.

How to recognize the disease

Clinically, the disease manifests itself in the form of 2 phenomena:

Complete loss of vision in 1 or both eyes at once.
The appearance of a ramp (characterized by the loss of certain areas from the field of view). In this case, a person can see only the side parts of the room and not see the central part or, conversely, see everything that is in front, but not see objects located to the side. It happens differently. Patients can see a moving object (person, car) up to a certain moment, after which this object suddenly disappears, then appears again.

The disease can occur in acute and chronic forms. The acute form of retrobulbar neuritis is characterized by sharp decline visual function, pain in the eye area.

Signs of illness acute form manifest themselves in the form of sudden loss of vision, impaired determination of color shades, pain that occurs when moving the eyeballs.

The chronic form is characterized by a gradual deterioration of vision and the absence of a pronounced clinical picture. Manifestation of the disease:

the appearance of a blind spot in the center of vision;
a feeling of seeing objects in the twilight;
hyperthermia;
weakness;
nausea and vomiting.

Unpleasant symptoms will intensify after a person gets into a stressful situation or actively engages in sports or heavy physical work.

Diagnostic methods

When a person has a series of characteristic symptoms retrobulbar neuritis, he consults an ophthalmologist. The specialist will conduct comprehensive inspection patient, collect complaints and prescribe further examination, which will help to exclude possible pathologies optic nerve of a different nature. Comprehensive diagnostics will help you find out the exact cause of the disorder, and then choose the right treatment.

How is the diagnosis done? First, the specialist will assess visual acuity and the level of light perception. After this, an ophthalmoscopy is performed - a procedure that helps determine the condition. optic disc All in all. Using specific tests, the eye's reaction to various external stimuli is determined.

The exact presence of the disease and the extent of damage to the optic nerve can be determined using magnetic resonance scanning. During such a diagnosis, a specialist will inject contrast into the optic nerve (intravenous contrast) and take several pictures that will show the condition of the optic fiber.

Therapy methods

Retrobulbar neuritis can progress quite quickly, so treatment should be carried out immediately after the disease is identified. It is especially important to undergo preventive examination for people who are at risk for developing the disease.

This applies to those who already have a disease of autoimmune origin, women from 24 to 35 years old, and those who have genetic mutations. Treatment after detection of the disease is carried out in a hospital setting, under the strict supervision of the attending physician.

Therapy is selected depending on the cause of the disease and how severely the optic nerve is affected. If the cause of the disease is not determined, prescribe complex therapy, which will help eliminate inflammation and restore damaged tissue.

Pathology is treated with the following medications:

antihistamines;
anti-inflammatory;
antibacterial;
antiviral;
hormonal;
drugs that help restore metabolic processes;
vitamins

According to experts, from the moment the pathology develops until it is possible to stop its progression with medication, a person has only a few days. Treatment is carried out after diagnosis by a highly qualified neurologist (you can go to regular clinics, but most likely the necessary specialists will not be there).

If the disease is extremely severe, surgery is indicated. During the procedure, the surgeon will open the optic nerve sheath, which will help reduce pressure on it. Surgical method Treatment of pathology is rarely used, since it is more often possible to get rid of inflammation with properly selected conservative treatment.

With a combination of medication and physiotherapy, healing will occur much faster. It is recommended to use procedures such as magnetic therapy and laser stimulation as physical therapy. The course of treatment lasts at least 4 weeks.

Disease Prevention

Retrobulbar neuritis is a very serious disease, difficult to diagnose and treat, which often leads to complete disability. It has very unpleasant and serious consequences, so it is better to prevent the development of pathology if possible.

In particular, as a preventive measure for the disease, it is recommended to eliminate any infection, which can provoke damage to the optic nerve, for example: otitis media, sinusitis, tonsillitis.

You should undergo fluorography annually to exclude the presence of tuberculosis. It's important to lead healthy image life, avoid casual sexual relationships, after which you can become infected with a number of serious infectious diseases, including syphilis, one of possible reasons retrobulbar neuritis.

Local infections, including in the oral cavity, can provoke neuritis. That is why it is important to monitor personal hygiene, undergo timely treatment at the dentist, and brush your teeth regularly. It’s good to take care of strengthening your immune system through proper nutrition and eating foods rich in vitamin B.

Hypothermia can provoke neuritis. To prevent this, it is important to wear a hat in cold and windy weather, avoid drafts and not stand near cooling appliances.

Regularly, at least once a year, you need to carry out comprehensive examination body, which will help to identify pathology in time and prevent its progression.

Video

Congenital cataracts in children

Every minute a blind baby is born on earth. But, if the cause of blindness is cataracts, do not despair, since the child has every chance to see the delights of this world with his own eyes after being prescribed by a competent and effective treatment. This disease can be cured both surgically and with medication, depending on many individual factors, complexity and stage of development.

Capabilities for detecting congenital cataracts

Cataract is a clouding of the eye vitreous, modification of the retina, as well as anomaly of the eyelids and tear ducts. The etiological structure of congenital (hereditary) cataracts is very heterogeneous, so some difficulties arise in their treatment. early diagnosis and timely healing. The surest way to make a diagnosis is through interviews with parents and laboratory testing.

There are congenital cataracts without accompanying changes in the organ of vision and with accompanying:

hypoplasia and atrophy of the optic nerve;
iris coloboma;
microthalm;
nystagmus;
choroid;
aniridia.

This disease can go along with general pathology:

natural heart failure;
Down's disease, etc.

Signs and symptoms of congenital cataracts in newborns

If, during an examination, an ophthalmologist discovers a congenital cataract, this means that the eye lens has either partially lost its transparency or has become completely cloudy. The disease is often asymptomatic and painless. The development of this disease is accompanied by changes in behavior and appearance child.

There are several types of cataracts:

anterior cataract affects the anterior wall of the lens and has virtually no effect on vision,
rear - located on the back wall,
nuclear is the most common form, occurring in the central part of the lens.

Also read: Vision development in newborns and possible deviations

With layered and complete cataracts, a blurred spot or unclear edging of the pupil may appear, and vision is greatly reduced or completely lost. Sometimes a child develops strabismus or disturbances in focused gaze, the baby stops recognizing his parents and loses coordination of movements, behaves restlessly and rubs his eyes, and always tries to look at objects, turning the same side to them.

Such vision problems need to be eliminated as early as possible, as they affect the formation of personality and self-esteem in the future.

Timely seeking help will help avoid serious complications such as lazy eye or amblyopia.

Causes of the disease: does it always appear at an early age?

Congenital cataracts develop for many reasons, including:

hereditary factors;
genetic predisposition;
diabetes;
drinking alcohol and smoking during pregnancy;
inflammatory processes;
infectious and viral diseases, such as herpes, toxoplasmosis, chickenpox, measles, rubella, influenza, tonsillitis,
suffered by the mother during pregnancy.

hormonal disbalance;
dysfunction of proteins in the lens;
taking some medicines and antibiotics that include tetracycline.

Congenital cataracts are a disease that begins to progress during fetal development and can be noticed immediately after birth, but can also begin to bother you at school age when the strain on the eyes increases. At complete absence In an infant who reacts to external stimuli, surgery to replace the lens is necessary as soon as possible, since every year the chances of carrying out a correction without subsequent complications will decrease. In most cases, spot clouding of the lens does not cause discomfort, does not affect the quality of vision, and can even be present on the pupil without any particular visible defect.

Diagnostics

Elimination of this defect most often occurs through surgery. However, if the clouding of the lens does not affect central vision, it is enough to simply undergo a special course of treatment, individually selected by the doctor based on a thorough study of the condition and stage of development of the disease.

First of all pediatric ophthalmologist makes a superficial examination, then selects appropriate methods for a more in-depth study. The study of the fundus using an electric ophthalmoscope and a magnifying glass is carried out in semi-darkness and allows you to magnify the desired object by 14-16 times.

Retinal tomography is currently the most microscopic method for convenient and painless detection of pathology at an early stage.

Slit biomicroscopy allows you to accurately determine the problem of the eye and examine all its particles in an enlarged format under a microscope equipped with special beam illumination.

And finally, ultrasonography is considered the most highly informative non-contact diagnostic method and provides detailed visual information about the condition of the tissues and blood vessels of the eye. This is the most accessible and safe analysis not only for children, but also for people of any age.

Treatment of congenital cataracts in children: is there a difference with treatment for adults?

The symptoms and treatment of cataracts in adults and children are absolutely no different. If cataracts do not affect the quality of vision, then the person should be under the supervision of a doctor and take the necessary medications. In such cases, specific drops are used that regulate metabolic processes, promote the resorption of protein compounds and restore the transparency of the eye lens.

With this form of the disease, it is also very successful. ethnoscience. You can wash your eyes with a decoction of calendula and drink a glass of fresh water two to three times a day. carrot juice, and also make compresses from parsley juice.

Also read: Treatment of cataracts without surgery with drugs

The operation is prescribed if the child has serious problems with visual acuity or lack thereof. Removing childhood cataracts is a fairly complex operation and should only be performed by a highly qualified and experienced doctor.

It is performed using an ultrasonic phacoemulsifier device. This device, through a micro-incision, crushes the lens into an emulsion, which is sucked out through special tubes. After that, an artificial implant of a certain optical power is placed in the lens bag. This procedure is carried out alternately with one eye, and after a few days with the other eye, and lasts no more than 15 minutes. However surgical interventions- it's just initial stage corrections and to achieve maximum results you will need a lot more various methods comprehensive restoration.