In the blink of an eye

Work Study

ISSN: 0043-8022

Article publication date: 1 September 1999

48

Citation

(1999), "In the blink of an eye", Work Study, Vol. 48 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ws.1999.07948eab.009

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 1999, MCB UP Limited


In the blink of an eye

In the blink of an eye

Doctors have developed a bionic eyelid which can blink like the real thing. The latex membrane device has been incorporated into a glass eye fitted to a patient who lost an eye as a result of having a tumour removed. A tiny battery-driven motor opens the artificial eyelid in time with the real one. The lid is tugged open by a thread spooled onto a roll behind the false eye. It springs shut when the motor is stopped, due to the elasticity of the membrane. The eyelids are synchronised by using a muscle signal from the real one to switch on the motor. Dr Martin Klein and colleagues from Humboldt University in Berlin, who developed the eyelid, said that after 300,000 test blinks the device showed no sign of wearing out. The electronics and battery were housed in an acrylic capsule mounted behind the glass eye. The researchers wrote in the Lancet medical journal: "The cosmetic result was good. The artificial upper eyelid moved simultaneously with the healthy eye. The synchronisation was tested with video control in slow motion. With additional movement of the artificial eyelid the patient presented a much more natural appearance."

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