Investigative ophthalmology & visual science
-
Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. · Dec 2003
Five-year incidence of bilateral cause-specific visual impairment in the Melbourne Visual Impairment Project.
To describe the age-, gender-, and cause-specific 5-year incidence of bilateral visual impairment in participants in the Melbourne Visual Impairment Project, Victoria, Australia. ⋯ Undercorrected refractive error was the primary cause of new cases of visual impairment in this population. Further research is needed to understand the origin of this and to develop appropriate prevention measures. Age-related macular degeneration is the primary cause of severe or profound vision loss in Australia. This disease requires further investigation for effective cure and preventive strategies.
-
Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. · Dec 2003
Methods and perceptual thresholds for short-term electrical stimulation of human retina with microelectrode arrays.
To report methods for performing epiretinal electrical stimulation with microfabricated electrode arrays and determining perceptual thresholds on awake human volunteers during acute surgical trials. ⋯ Threshold charge densities in severely blind patients were substantially higher than that in a normal-sighted patient. Charge densities in blind patients always exceeded one seemingly reasonable estimate of safe stimulation. The potential adversity of long-term stimulation of the retina by a prosthesis has yet to be determined.