Innovation in Action: helping people to see again
Can you imagine what it must be like to go blind? Degenerative diseases of the eye such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP) can result in loss of vision and blindness.
Retinitis pigmentosa is an inherited genetic condition for which there is no cure. It results in the progressive loss of function of the retinal photoreceptors that convert light into electrical nerve impulses that travel down the optic nerve to the brain for processing into the images we see. As you reduce the ability to process light, so you start to lose your sight and can end up totally blind.
Regular blog readers will know I think tissue engineering is an exciting area where you can see innovation in action – advances in basic science can translate into ways to artificially create replacement organs and body parts.
One enduring image I have from the plenary presentation on “The Genetic Basis for Cancer Therapy“ by Bill Sellers, VP/Global Head Oncology at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research was the video he showed of the robots that are used for automated cell profiling.
“The Mannogram – Yes we scan” Jelle Barentsz, Professor of Radiology at Radbound University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands told the assembled media at the recent European Association of Urology (EAU) annual Congress in Paris.
Something that I was not aware of until I attended the media briefing was that so called “robotic surgery” is not an automated robot performing the surgery on its own, but instead it’s actually robot assisted surgery.