Stanford Medicine : Bionic – How video goggles and a tiny wireless implant could treat blindness
Two Stanford research teams are making steady progress in what was once the realm of science fiction. One of their promising new devices, a bionic vision system based on photovoltaic implants, is awaiting approval for human clinical trials in Europe. A second system, based on in vitro studies of the retina, could be ready for animal testing within four or five years. Both inventions have the same goal: to give back some measure of sight to people who have progressive diseases of the retina ? especially retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration