Retinal implant moves a step closer

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.