合成视觉有望让盲人复明

    去年秋天，一位个头不高，说话轻声软语的男人从布列塔尼老家来到了巴黎东部的Quinze-Vingts眼科医院。他就是乔治斯。一位名叫亚历山大的医生正在等着他。他们在医院走廊里用了两天时间学习怎样使用这套系统。（目前这套系统还不能用于在家练习）。

    乔治斯戴上了眼镜，用一根带子把电脑挎在了肩上。第一次，他们先去了走廊。乔治斯移动得很犹豫，脚步蹒跚地向前蹭着，伸手摸着。他说：“光线太亮了，我迷路了。”亚历山大将墨镜插到一台笔记本电脑上，调整了设置，然后他们又出去了。这一次好了一些。沿着地上的黑色图案，乔治亚走完了一个走廊的长度，甚至还绕过了路上的一个障碍物。

    吉利预测称，等到Iris系统2015年末正式投放欧洲市场，每名患者的成本大概会在10万欧元左右，另外再加上手术费。虽然这笔费用听起来很贵，但吉利表示，和失明相比，花这笔钱还是很划算的。芝加哥大学的一项研究表明，光是在美国，到2050年，由眼病和视力问题导致的成本就将高达7170亿美元。

    去年六月，Pixium公司进行了IPO，从欧洲投资人手中融资近4000万欧元（约合5300多万美元）。Pixium并不是唯一一家从事失明领域研究的企业。从德国到澳大利亚，许多企业都在开发俗称的“仿生眼”。其中一家名叫“第二视觉医疗公司”（Second Sight Medical）的美国企业走得最远，它的Argus II系统已经于2011年通过了欧洲认证，又于2013年通过了FDA(美国食物及药品管理局)认证。去年11月，第二视觉公司也成功进行了IPO，融资约3200万美元。

    虽然Iris与Argus II系统非常类似，但吉利也指出了一些不同之处。比如Iris的摄像头只捕捉环境的变化，所以它的总体视觉是持续不断的，更贴近真实人眼的视觉模式。另外，眼内的植入物也可以被轻易移除并更换升级版。

    该公司的下一代产品Prima将于2016年开始临床测试。Prima的电极比Iris多了10倍，应该可以让失明者重新恢复阅读和识别面部特征的能力。吉利表示：“病人告诉我们，他们首先想要的是自主性和安全性。其次，他们希望能够认出他们所爱的人，看到他们的爱人或孙子。”

    由于它是一种合成视觉，因此它拥有广阔的可能性。很快，这项技术就可以让用户“视黑夜如白昼”。未来的某款设备甚至有可能直接将一本电子书或电影的内容投射到人的视网膜上。不过拉•梅尔表示，他们目前的目标还只是帮助盲人找到一间屋子的门。“看起来似乎不是很宏大的目标，但意义非常重大。”

    乔治斯也同意这一点。他告诉我们，前不久在他家附近散步时，“人行道对面停了一辆卡车，我的手杖探到车子下面去了，所以我不知道车子停在那儿，结果撞到了头。如果当时我已经用上了这个系统，我就会看到它了。”（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎

    审校：任文科

    One recent autumn day, Georges, a small, soft-spoken man, traveled from his home in Brittany to the Quinze-Vingts hospital in eastern Paris. A young therapist named Alexandre Leseigneur was waiting for him, and the two spent the day together practicing using the system in the corridors. (The glasses were not yet available for practice at home.)

    Georges put the glasses on and hung a strap with the computer over his shoulder. The first time they went into the hallway, he moved hesitantly, shuffling sideways and reaching out his hand. “The flashes are too bright. I’m lost,” he said. Leseigneur plugged the glasses into a laptop computer, adjusted the settings, and they went out again. This time was better. Following a black band on the floor, Georges walked the length of a corridor and even managed to avoid an obstacle blocking his path.

    Gilly estimates that when the Iris arrives on the European market in late 2015, the cost to each patient will be around 100,000 euros, plus surgery. Though that might sound expensive, he says it’s a bargain compared to the price of blindness. A study at the University of Chicago forecasts that in the United States alone, costs related to eye disease and vision problems will reach $717 billion by 2050.

    Last June, Pixium made an initial public offering, raising nearly 40 million euros (more than $53 million) from European investors. It is not the only company working in this field. Various permutations of what is commonly called a “bionic eye”—Gilly dislikes the term—are being developed from Germany to Australia. The pioneer is an American company, Second Sight Medical, which earned European approval for its Argus II system in 2011 and FDA approval in 2013. In November, Second Sight had its own successful IPO, raising some $32 million.

    While the Iris is very similar to the Argus II, Gilly mentions a few key differences. His camera, for example, captures only the changes in the environment, so that the overall view is continuous, closer to the way the human eye actually sees. The implant can also be easily removed and replaced with upgrades as they become available.

    The company’s next generation product, Prima, will start clinical trials in 2016. With at least 10 times as many electrodes, it should enable people to read and to see facial features. “Patients tell us that what they want first is autonomy and safety,” says Gilly. “After that, they want to be able to recognize their loved ones, to see their spouses or their grandchildren.”

    Since this is synthetic vision, the possibilities are vast. Soon the technology will permit users to see as clearly at night as during the day. A future device might be able to transmit the contents of an e-book or a movie directly to the retina. For now, Le Mer says, the goal is simply to help someone locate a door in a room. “It seems modest, but it’s huge.”

    Georges agrees. He tells about how not long ago he was taking a walk near his home. “There was a truck parked across the sidewalk. My cane slipped under it, so I didn’t know it was there, and I smacked my head. If I had been using this system, I would have seen it.”