Diamond to become the blind’s best friend

Diamonds are not just a girl’s best friend, but a physicist’s best friend and soon to be the blind's best friend too, according to new Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, Professor Steven Prawer.

Professor Prawer leads the Melbourne Materials Institute team that is developing a diamond electrode array that will be part of a chip embedded in the retina for use in the bionic eye. This device is designed to have sufficient resolution to allow the blind to recognise faces and read large print.

“A blind person will wear a pair of special glasses that captures an image and sends it to a wireless receiver chip implanted in the retina at the back of the eye. This receiver will then send the signal via a specially designed diamond electrode array to the optic nerve to create an image for the person to see,” he explained.

“In order to prevent corrosion of the implanted chip by body fluids, it will also be encased in a biocompatible diamond block,” he clarified.

In 2009, Minister Kim Carr announced that the Australian government would support the development of the bionic eye by awarding $42 million over four years to the Bionic Vision Australia consortium - of which the Melbourne Materials Institute is a core member.

As a result, Professor Prawer predicts that “a version of bionic eye should be ready for clinical trials within four years”.

His team has already had an important impact with their research into the unique possibilities presented by diamonds. They have developed a prototype device which is now being commercialised for incorporation into ultra-secure communication systems. This single photon source device prevents eavesdropping in communications systems and has already been taken up by several corporations.

As a result of his important contribution to science, Professor Prawer has been elected as a new Fellow of the Academy of Science along with 16 other distinguished scientists.

Professor Prawer said of his election, “I feel tremendously honoured and humbled. It is very pleasing that the work we were doing for so many years is recognised. I feel an enormous debt of gratitude to large numbers of staff and students who have contributed to the work.”

Bionic Vision Australia
www.bionicvision.org.au