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The US Food and Drug Administration has given the go-ahead for new trials in which up to 75 patients with retinal disease will be fitted with an artificial vision device.

The new retinal implant consists of 60 electrodes into which a signal from a lens fitted to spectacles is passed. The electrodes then emit a signal which is picked up by the optic nerve and processed in the usual manner.

Such devices have been developed before, but the improvement in technology and increase in electrodes now allows for a more enhanced resolution.

'What we are trying to do is take real-time images from a camera and convert them into tiny electrical pulses that would jump-start the otherwise blind eye and allow patients to see,' said Professor Mark Humayun, project leader from the University of Southern California.

The device is suitable for those patients where the main cause of impairment is damage at the retinal level. This would include macular degeneration (the leading cause of sight loss in the UK and US), and retinitis pigmentosa.

'If successful, the device could be commercialised soon after, costing around $30,000 (£15,000),' said Professor Humayun. 'Other devices could then be developed with higher resolution or a wider field of view.

'If the new trial hits its milestones the second generation implant could be commercially available in two years,' he added.

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