13 February, 2025
Talking Eyes with Lien Trinh
Guest speaker: Associate Professor Penelope Allen
Talking Eyes is an Australian podcast dedicated to exploring the latest advancements in eye research. It is hosted by Lien Trinh, a dedicated optometrist based in Darwin, who delivers eye care to communities across the Northern Territory.
In this Talking Retina podcast, “The Australian Bionic Eye Project”, Lien delves into the fascinating journey of this initiative with Associate Professor Allen, from its inception and the brilliant minds behind it to the many challenges they have faced along the way. We’ll also hear about the outcomes of the first and second clinical trials, offering hope and new possibilities for vision-impaired individuals.
Retina Australia Grant Project
Improving real-world mobility and assessing long-term safety outcomes with a retinal prosthesis (“Bionic Eye”)
In 2022, Retina Australia awarded a research grant to Associate Professor Penelope Allen and team for this project which investigated the effectiveness of a new visual processing method, called Local Background Enclosure (LBE), in helping people who had been implanted a bionic eye to navigate obstacles in both a controlled laboratory environment and a real-world setting.
The study showed that the depth algorithm developed particularly helped users detect low contrast objects and reduced the false detection of shadows when outdoors when compared to our original algorithm, to improve the overall reliability of the device in different settings.
This work was presented at ARVO in 2023: https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2789031 as well as at the RANZCO Congress 2024, and is currently under peer review for a journal publication.
Talking Eyes with Lien Trinh
Talking Eyes with Lien Trinh is a groundbreaking Australian podcast dedicated to exploring the latest advancements in eye research.
It translates these golden nuggets into tangible clinical practices, and help non-clinicians navigate their own interests in eye health and future possibilities.
Lien Trinh is a dedicated optometrist based in Darwin, who delivers eye care to communities across the Northern Territory. She is a passionate advocate for health equity and holistic eye health, and holds degrees in Optometry and Public Health. She founded podcast Talking Eyes to communicate to and support health practitioners deliver optimal eye care. The podcast started with goals to translate research, but has quickly evolved to become a reliable and engaging eye health resource for both consumers and practitioners alike.
https://retinaaustralia.com.au/podcast-the-australian-bionic-eye-project/
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