TINY TV TO AID NEAR-BLIND 

More than one million Canadians have visual defects that can not be corrected medically, surgically or with glasses. Approximately 25 percent of this group have a form of impairment called "low vision". In America there are 2.5 million with this problem. Now new hope: a form of "intimate TV" in the shape of wrap-around glasses that carry their own TV camera.

Specialists at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will employ space technology to develop a device designed to improve low vision. The first phases of the project are expected to run for at least five years, according to officials in NASA's Technology Utilization Program.

Arnall Patz, professor of ophthalmology and Director of the Wilmer Eye Institute, says that "As soon as it is perfected, the final version of the enhancement system will be distributed widely to eye institutions throughout this country". It is anticipated that rights to the device will be licensed to a Canadian company shortly thereafter.

The enhancement will not restore lost sight but will help patients make best use of their remaining vision, according to other Wilmer staff.

When the device is worn, the patient will see the world on two miniature color television screens where the lenses of eyeglasses are usually located. Lenses and imaging glass fibres will be embedded on each side of the wrap-around section where the front and ear pieces join.

The lens will "form images of the scene in front of the patient on the surface of the fibres." These fibres, similar to those used to carry long-distance telephone signals, carry pictures back to miniature solid-state television cameras carried in a belt or shoulder pack. These images will be processed by a small, batterypowered computer system in the pack and, finally, displayed on the television screens.

The designers say the device will be lightweight and comfortable. The outside of the television screens could appear similar to the common mirrored lenses seen in some sunglasses.

According to Dr. Robert Murphy, associate professor of Phthalmology a director of Wilmer's retinal vbascular service, the system is expected to benefit patients with central vision loss, the part of the vision normally used for reading.

Development will center on how images must be altered and enhanced for the low-vision patient. More information: The Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, 550 North Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205.

Phone: (301) 955-6680.

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