Artificial Retina Can Restore Sight to the Blind

Eric Bland, Discovery News


Oct. 15, 2009 -- An artificial retina could restore sight to the blind, according to new research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The device can be plugged directly into the optic nerve and is based on widely used cochlear implants.

"We are skipping the rods and cones in the eye," said Shawn Kelly, a professor at MIT who is developing the artificial retina. "Instead, we are using a camera outside the eye to collect the image, transmitting that image to a chip inside the eye, and using an electric current to directly stimulate the nerves."

The artificial retina is designed to help people with advanced macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa, progressive diseases that permanently blind patients, usually older patients.

Some drugs can delay the process, but once the cells that detect light (rods) and color (cones) die, they are gone.

The nerves behind the rods and cones do survive, however. For a patient to see again, something needs to stimulate the nerves. A mild electrical charge, applied using a self-contained, surgically implanted device could stimulate the optical nerves and allow a person to see again.

more:

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/10/15/artificial-retina.html

when someone could just use a cane.

This is certainly cool, but seems a bit too hacky to be the best solution.

Google edit: Yes, stem cells can repair retina tissue. Kind of makes this camera/chip technology pointless, and potentially destructive. http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/16/stories/2009011659280400.htm