Wide Angle: Retinal Implants to Battle Diabetic Retinopathy

August 18, 2009

Granted, the title of this post is truly a mouthful. But, stick with me here, because this podcast will introduce you to some very, very cool technology and some interesting scientific research. All you have to do, as they say, is keep your eye on the ball. Bad joke, sorry...not enough coffee yet this morning. Anyway, our current Wide Angle coverage is all about tissue engineering. My contribution is not quite engineering; perhaps better to call it a bit of re-engineering. The story starts with a somewhat chance meeting a decade ago between Elias Greenbaum, who is currently a Corporate Fellow at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and retinal surgeon Mark Humayun of The Doheny Eye Institute. Greenbaum's background is in the physics and chemistry of photosynthesis. Humayun was interested in developing retinal implants. However far apart those two areas of science sound, the two quickly realized there was overlap. A lot of overlap. Greenbaum studies how plant cells convert light energy into electrical energy. Humayun's work involved applying voltages and currents to the surviving retinal cells of blind people to see if it could stimulate macular regeneration. Together, they started work on developing retinal implants that would use photosynthetic style "reaction centers," instead of electrical current. That work continues.

But along the way, the team branched out a bit. They started to look circulatory complications that happen in diabetics. And that's where Greenbaum picks up the story in this Wide Angle podcast. Click here to download and take it with you, or simply listen using the player below.

(Eye schematic by Rhcastilhos via Wikimedia Commons)

Wide Angle: Smarter Meters for a Smarter Grid

July 10, 2009

OK, admittedly, so-called "smart" electricity meters may not have the cool factor of say, smart refrigerators. But Britain is banking on them to help citizens save money, and help the country meet its European Union obligations to reduce energy consumption and cut carbon emissions. If all goes according to the British government's plan, the next decade will usher in a huge roll-out of smart meters in the UK. So, my Wide Angle assignment was simple:  find someone in the smart meter industry who could tell me how smart meters work, and what kind of energy savings one might be able to expect. I found Mark England, Managing Director of a company called Sentec, which is based in beautiful Cambridge, England. England in England...I like that. Anyway, Mark told me that Sentec's been around for 12 years or so, and has been working on smart meters, and in particular the sensor technologies embedded in smart meters, for the past five years. I start the podcast with a very simple question: just what is a smart meter, and how does it work?

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