Machines Like Us

A bionic implant that bypasses the eye might eventually treat many forms of blindness.

One day it may be possible to restore sight in people who are congenitally blind by placing an implant in a part of the vision system hitherto ignored. Unlike most visual prostheses in advanced development,this new approach could make it possible to treat blindness even when the entire eye is damaged.

While the work is still in the early stages, researchers ultimately envision a device that translates images from a digital camera into neural impulses and then feeds that information into the visual system, allowing the wearer to see.

Previous research has shown that visual sensations, known as percepts, can be elicited in blind subjects by electrically stimulating nerve cells within the vision system. Researchers at Harvard Medical School, in Boston, are designing a visual prosthesis that builds on that observation.

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