Optical Implant In The Future

Researchers from MIT are hopeful that their work on an optical implant will be ready within a few years’ time, restoring sight to the blind without involving the supernatural. This bio-electronic implant is roughly the size of a pencil eraser and sits right behind the retina at the back of the eyeball, where images will then be transported over to the brain through a connector that measures no wider than a human hair. The researchers have already applied for an FDA grant application, hoping to see this implant be a success when used in an animal later this summer. This optical implant is valid only for folks who “were once able to see and have partially intact optic nerve cells” , ruling out those who were blind from birth.