Eye Only Have Chips for You
From: TechWow! - September 2003 - page 10

Researchers at Wayne State University and the Kresge Eye Institute are
working on tiny computer chips that can be implanted in the eye and brain to
produce eyesight. 

There are two versions of the chips: retinal and cortical. Retinal implants
are more viable and the technology is closer to completion. Here, a CMOS
array mounted on eyeglasses captures images and translates them into signals,
which are sent wirelessly to the implanted chip. The implant stimulates the
retina's neural tissue, which passes chemical messages to the optic nerve in
the visual part of the brain, 

Cortical implants are more complicated because they bypass the functions of
the eye. The eyeglass-mounted camera will record an image and send it to the
chip, which will decode it to the brain. 

Contact:
Gregory W. Auner, PhD
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI
313/577-3904
gauner@ece.eng.wayne.edu
http://ece.eng.wayne.edu/ssid

