Wireless Retinal Implant Chip for the Blind

Engineers at MIT have developed a retinal implant chip to treat loss of vision from retinitis pigmentosa or age-related macular degeneration, two of the leading causes of blindness. The device would bring back some vision via electrically stimulating nerve cells that usually carry visual information from the retina to the brain.

Although the chips could help blind people navigate a room more easily or walk down a sidewalk, they wouldnt completely restore vision. "Anything that could help them see a little better and let them identify objects and move around a room would be an enormous help," says Shawn Kelly, MIT's researcher and member of the Boston Retinal Implant Project.

Patients would wear a pair of glasses with a tiny camera that transmits images to a microchip attached to the eyeball. The glasses also contain a coil that wirelessly sends power to receiving coils around the eyeball. When the microchip receives visual information, it activates electrodes that stimulate nerve cells in the areas of the retina corresponding to the features of the visual scene. The electrodes directly activate optical nerves that carry signals to the brain, bypassing the damaged layers of retina.

The research team hopes to start testing a prototype in blind patients within 3 years, following safety refinements. As human trials begin and blind patients give feedback on what they're seeing, researchers will learn how to optimize the algorithm used by the chip to produce improved vision.