Restoring Vision in Blind People

Matt McMahon, PhD

April 26, 2006
CLU - Richter Hall Ahmanson Science Building

Two major causes of blindness (retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration) damage the retinal transducer cells. These transducer cells turn light into electrical neural signals. The Second Sight visual prosthesis electrically stimulates the retina, bypassing the damaged cells, to give sight to the blind. The Second Sight prosthesis uses a glasses mounted camera to collecting an image. The camera sends data to a video processor which optimizes the image. An external primary coil sends power and data from the external video processor to an implanted secondary coil. The secondary coil, through implanted electronics, drives electrodes attached to the retinal surface.  Second Sight has successfully implanted several prototype prostheses in human subjects.

Matt McMahon, PhD

Matt McMahon, PhD is a Principal Scientist at Second Sight Medical Products. Matt is a prolific writer and sought after speaker who can present an intimate view of the eye, its operations, and its remarkable power as a recepter and image processing machine. In the past Matt worked with Dennis Dacey at the University of Washington, Don MacLeod at UCSD, and Dave Williams and Peter Lennie at the University of Rochester Center for Visual Science.
 
Matt has a Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, Experimental Psychology, 2000, an M.A., University of California, San Diego, Experimental Psychology, 1994, and a B.S., University of Rochester, Optics, 1993. Matt McMahon is the recipient of many honors and awards.