Blindness treatment in sight

Researchers at the University of Glasgow have launched a project to challenge two of the most common forms of blindness in the UK.

Employing similar technology to that found in digital cameras, the scientists will build an electronic implant that they claim eventually would enable people who have become blind to see again.

Age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa cause blindness in around one million people in the UK. By implanting a microelectronic device into the eye, the team hopes to fool the brain into believing the retina is still in working order.

Dr Keith Matheson, who is leading the research, said that advances in microelectronics have allowed researchers to develop a retinal prosthesis, a small device that is attached to the retina itself. The device contains an image detector with hundreds of pixels coupled to an array of microscopic stimulating electrodes. The stimulated cells then send information via the optic nerve to the brain.