What are some of the challenges researchers face?
"In a lot of ways the technology is progressing faster than the biology," said Fanta Tumminia, a researcher at the Foundation Fighting Blindness, one of the largest private donors to eye research in the United States.
Microchips may be getting smaller and more efficient every day, but the eye's wet conditions will always pose a challenge, Tumminia said.
"The eye is very salty, and electronics and salt don't go well together," she said. "There is also the question of whether the body will reject the implant as something foreign, and whether it will stay in place or float around where it's not supposed to go."
How far are we from developing a technological cure for blindness?
Tumminia thinks it'll be 10 to 15 years before scientists develop a chip to help people see more than just letters or light-and-dark outlines. Other experts agree.
"As with the development of the cochlear implant, we must be satisfied to move ahead incrementally step by step," Dr. Thomas Weingeist, of the University of Iowa, recently told the American Academy of Ophthalmology. "There is no expectation that a solution will occur soon. In the meantime, physicians and patients should remain hopeful, but not be unrealistic or deceived by the hype."
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