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From: "Scott C" <castledine10@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:24:40 -0000
Breaking News 
Sight Device: Blind Man Sees With His Tongue . 
1:26pm UK, Monday March 15, 2010 
Thomas Moore, health correspondent A British soldier who lost his sight in Iraq 
is being taught to 'see' with his tongue, using a revolutionary new device.. 
Craig Lundberg, 24, who was blinded in a rocket-propelled grenade attack three 
years ago, is the first British soldier to test the BrainPort system.
The device consists of a high-tech 'lollipop' that rests on Craig's tongue. It 
converts images from a video camera, that he wears on a pair of glasses, into 
signals that stimulate electrodes on the lollipop.
The £10,000 device works on the principle of sensory substitution. The brain 
recognises that the signals stimulating the tongue have nothing to do with 
taste, and re-routes them to the visual centre of the brain for processing.
The brain is able to interpret the image, giving Craig rudimentary vision.
He described the device as "absolutely fantastic".
"Whatever the camera is looking at, I can feel the image on my tongue," he said.
The system has allowed him to make out the top letters on an optician's eye 
test.
He said: "I could feel with my tongue that the first letter was an A, and then 
I moved on to the next one. It was amazing.
"Then I walked down a corridor and I could make out the doorways, the walls and 
people coming towards me."
Mr Lundberg's BrainPort system has been jointly funded by the Ministry of 
Defence and  St Dunstan's. , the charity for blind ex-servicemen and women.
"I am a realist," he said. "I know this isn't going to give me my sight back, 
but it could be the next best thing."
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