Hey they have made a bionic eye. Aussie invention. Sorry can't say I have a whole bunch of details, but I do remember that they pulled one of the patient's teeth (molar I think). They then attached the optical nerve to a chip imbedded in the tooth. I assume that they also attached the eye muscles to the tooth.
Didn't look pretty (and the journalist didn't ask if you had to brush your new eyes) but apparently the person could make out 'basic shapes' of objects. Enough to get around the room with little trouble.
Side topic:
Apparently there are some groups of blind people that are annoyed by this technology and the pressure they feel to be 'normal'.
Anywhoo, wouldn't go pulling teeth just yet decipher_saint apparently the tech is still 'in development'.
Following is an article about the chip side of the tech. As I mentioned above the report I saw suggested that they were getting around the rejection problems by imbedding the chip in the enamel of a tooth.
Slashdot Mirror
Didn't look pretty (and the journalist didn't ask if you had to brush your new eyes) but apparently the person could make out 'basic shapes' of objects. Enough to get around the room with little trouble.
Side topic:
Apparently there are some groups of blind people that are annoyed by this technology and the pressure they feel to be 'normal'.
Anywhoo, wouldn't go pulling teeth just yet decipher_saint apparently the tech is still 'in development'.
Following is an article about the chip side of the tech. As I mentioned above the report I saw suggested that they were getting around the rejection problems by imbedding the chip in the enamel of a tooth.
http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/DailyNe ws/cuttingedge981105.html
Omni