In the US, there is a research program called the ‘Artificial Retina Project’ It is developing a “bionic eye” for people with disease of the retina. The goal is to allow patients with little or no light perception to gain unaided mobility.
It consists of a miniature camera and computer chip mounted on a pair of spectacles, and a small implant behind the ear linked to an array of electrodes attached to the cells of the retina. As an image is picked up by the camera, the information is converted into electronic signals that are passed via the implant to the electrodes on the retina, from where they travel via the optic nerve to the brain. Whats very important is that the device processes information in real time.






