Experimental retina implants give mice infrared vision
Human vision relies on photoreceptor cells in the retina that react to visible light and trigger neurons in the optic nerve to send signals to the brain. Degradation of these photoreceptors is the leading cause of vision impairments, including blindness.
However, a team of scientists at China’s Fudan University has recently built prototype retinal implants that can replace the failing photoreceptors and potentially provide infrared vision as a bonus. Sadly, they’ve only been tested in animals, so we’re still rather far away from making them work like Cyberpunk 2077-style eye augments.
Vision on chip
Earlier work on retinal implants that restored at least some degree of vision to the blind involved using electrode arrays that electrically stimulated neurons in the back of the retina, taking the place of the damaged photoreceptor cells. A patient had to wear a camera mounted on a pair of glasses that sent signals to the implant to activate this signaling. These implants required a power source to work, were unreliable, difficult to use, and had limited resolution, and the surgical procedure necessary to put them in the eye was extremely complicated.
