Retinal Chip Helps the Blind to See

Some smart folks in Germany figured out that they could help people with a certain kind of hereditary blindness see by inserting a subretinal implanted chip beneath the retinas of the blind.

One of the patients surprised researchers by identifying and locating objects on a table; he was also able to walk around a room unaided, approach specific people, tell the time from a clock face, and describe seven different shades of gray in front of him.

The particular type of eye disease this alleviates affects 200,000 people worldwide. The chip functions by "[replacing] the retina's cones and rods - its light receptors - which were lost in retinal degeneration."

The down side is that the test worked with 11 subjects; only three of them received any benefits, the others' conditions having progressed too far.

Still, it's a pretty major breakthrough in the fight for vision.