New Retinas for Old

This article reviews retinal prosthesis that is a seeing-eye chip with as many as 1000 tiny electrodes to be implanted in the eye. It has the potential to help people who have lost their sight regain enough vision to function independently in the sighted world. The Artificial Retina Project is a collaboration of five US National laboratories, three universities, and the private sector. The interface module and the antenna for future versions of the retinal prosthesis will all be implanted in the eye, instead of outside the eye. The retinal prosthesis will help patients who still have neutral wiring from the eye to the brain. One of the challenges in developing the device is creating a microelectrode array that conforms to the curved shape of the retina, without damaging the delicate retinal tissue. Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is the lead lab on the Artificial Retina Project. They're the folks responsible for fabricating and testing the electrodes, and making sure they're up to the challenge of being implanted long term in a human body.