Skip to content
Surprising Science

Retina Implant Restores Vision With No External Hardware

Just after the FDA approved a special pair of glasses that help restore vision to the blind, a German company has built a system which requires no external hardware to function properly.
Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

What’s the Latest Development?


Hot on the heels of an FDA-approved device which helps blind patients distinguish color and shapes with the help of specialty glasses, a German company named Retina Implant has created a microchip that restores vision without any externally visible gear. “The implanted device consists of a three-millimeter-square chip with 1,500 pixels. Each pixel contains a photodiode, which picks up incoming light, and an electrode and an amplification circuit, which boosts the weak electrical activity given off by the diode.” A thin cable that runs through the eye socket connects the implant to a small coil implanted under the skin behind the ear.

What’s the Big Idea?

Thanks to advances in biotechnology, visual prostheses now occupy a large share of the cutting-edge medical device market. These devices are simultaneously available to the public. “More than 20 groups worldwide are working on some form of visual prosthesis, says Joseph Rizzo, a neuro-ophthalmologist with Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard Medical School, who is also developing an artificial retina.” Thanks to Retina Implant, eight of the nine patients in the device’s clinical trial could perceive light and five were able to detect everyday objects such as cutlery, doorknobs, and telephones.

Photo credit: Shutterstock.com

Read it at Technology Review

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Related
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Curabitur in sem nisi. Donec at convallis felis. Curabitur id mattis libero. Nunc maximus dolor eget iaculis lobortis. Mauris eros mi, mattis […]
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aenean volutpat ultricies nibh, ac placerat urna. Vivamus augue arcu, consectetur vitae est mollis, laoreet congue ante. Quisque a aliquet eros, ac […]
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla finibus bibendum ligula, malesuada placerat libero vehicula vestibulum. Nulla ut tincidunt arcu, quis scelerisque dolor. Nunc pretium justo tristique nunc eleifend, […]

Up Next