credit VisionCare
The Implantable Miniature Telescope is about the size of a pea.

credit Doheny Eye Institute/Keck School of Medicine

Researchers at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine developed a permanent "retinal prosthesis" for patients. Spectacles with miniature video cameras transmit signals to a retinal implant via a wireless receiver embedded behind the patient’s ear. The signal is then re-created by stimulating the remaining healthy retinal cells with electrodes that pass information to the brain through the optic nerve.

credit VisionCare
This photo is a simulated comparison of normal vision (left), vision impaired by acute macular degeneration affecting the area of the retina responsible for detailed central vision (center) and the vision of a person using the Implantable Miniature Telescope (right).

credit VisionCare

A pea-size Implantable Miniature Telescope embedded in only one eye is the basis for work done by California-based VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies. Replacing the eye’s lens, the telescope projects images over the undamaged area of the retina and provides central, "straight-ahead" vision while the other eye handles peripheral vision. For those whose peripheral vision remains intact, the device could prove to be a great blessing.