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Photoswitches Eyed for Sight Restoration

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BERKELEY, Calif., Nov. 3, 2006 -- Light-sensitive optical switches that could be placed into a retina and turned on and off easily are being eyed as a way to restore sight by making blind nerve cells "see." A major goal of the UC Berkeley-LBNL Nanomedicine Development Center, a new research center created by the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), is to equip cells of the retina with photoswitches that could use a flash of light to stimulate a nerve cell, restoring light sensitivity in people with blindness caused by conditions such as macular degeneration. The switches...Read full article

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    Published: November 2006
    Glossary
    cell
    1. A single unit in a device for changing radiant energy to electrical energy or for controlling current flow in a circuit. 2. A single unit in a device whose resistance varies with radiant energy. 3. A single unit of a battery, primary or secondary, for converting chemical energy into electrical energy. 4. A simple unit of storage in a computer. 5. A limited region of space. 6. Part of a lens barrel holding one or more lenses.
    light
    Electromagnetic radiation detectable by the eye, ranging in wavelength from about 400 to 750 nm. In photonic applications light can be considered to cover the nonvisible portion of the spectrum which includes the ultraviolet and the infrared.
    nano
    An SI prefix meaning one billionth (10-9). Nano can also be used to indicate the study of atoms, molecules and other structures and particles on the nanometer scale. Nano-optics (also referred to as nanophotonics), for example, is the study of how light and light-matter interactions behave on the nanometer scale. See nanophotonics.
    optical
    Pertaining to optics and the phenomena of light.
    photonics
    The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The science includes light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and detection by optical components and instruments, lasers and other light sources, fiber optics, electro-optical instrumentation, related hardware and electronics, and sophisticated systems. The range of applications of photonics extends from energy generation to detection to communications and...
    photoswitch
    A solid-state device that acts as a high-speed power switch, and that is activated by incident radiation.
    retina
    1. The photosensitive membrane on the inside of the human eye. 2. A scanning mechanism in optical character generation.
    azobenzeneBasic ScienceBerkeleyBiophotonicsblindCellindustrialIsacoffLBNLlightmacular degenerationnanonerveNews & FeaturesopticalphotonicsphotoreceptorphotoswitchpotassiumretinaSensors & DetectorsSPARKTrauner

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