Man made Diamonds could save sight
Physics professor Steven Prawer has found a way of making diamonds using a microwave-like reactor at his Parkville laboratory.
‘’They are made with methane and hydrogen,'’ Professor Prawer said. ‘’You cook them in the microwave oven on high for five days and then you have lovely little diamonds.'’
When made in the oven the diamonds are black as a result of their tiny size and ability to scatter light. They could also be a valuable ingredient in Australia’s $42 million quest to develop a bionic eye.
Diamonds been used in the for some time in the body because of their durability and low rejection rate. They are used as a coating from heart values to hip joints.
However, Professor Prawer, inaugural head of the Melbourne Materials Institute at Melbourne University Australia, pointed out that diamonds have never been used to stimulate the nerves.
‘’We have discovered a form of diamond that we can make which is bio-compatible and very good as a stimulating electrode, which means we can put an electrical signal onto it that then causes the neurons to fire and get a response,'’ he said.
‘’I don’t think anyone ever believed that diamonds could be used to stimulate [the ganglion cells] … this is a uniquely Australian approach,'’ Professor Prawer said.
He also indicated that diamonds could be used to stimulate nerves could have future applications in the treatment of other conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.
The man-made diamonds will also be used to encapsulate the five-square-millimetre microchip, the engine of the bionic eye, which will be implanted into the retina.
With pre-clinical trials under way, the Bionic Vision Australia consortium - including Melbourne University, the Centre for Eye Research Australia, NICTA, the Bionics Institute and the University of New South Wales - hope that the first human implant will take place next year at the Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital.
He said establishing that diamonds could be used to stimulate nerves could have future applications in the treatment of other conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.
According to a report in ‘The Age’, the man-made diamonds will also be used to encapsulate the five-square-millimetre microchip, the engine of the bionic eye, which will be implanted into the retina.
With pre-clinical trials under way, the Bionic Vision Australia consortium - including Melbourne University, the Centre for Eye Research Australia, NICTA, the Bionics Institute and the University of New South Wales - hope that the first human implant will take place next year at the Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital.
In 2009, the Australian federal government committed $50 million over four years to develop the bionic eye in Australia. While Bionic Vision Australia secured the lion’s share, Monash University received $8 million to work on an implant which will stimulate the visual cortex within the brain, bypassing the eye and optic nerve.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/manmade-diamonds-could-unlock-bionic-eye-20120206-1r1tg.html#ixzz1leiE17Ve