New Light-Powered Eye Implants Use Infrared Pulses to Restore Sight

A new generation of retinal implants could use light to provide power and data, potentially restoring vision in a less-invasive form than existing implants. Researchers at Stanford University previously described how such a system would work, and now they’ve designed implants that can receive infrared signals for power and information processing. Many vision diseases damage the light receptors but not neural processors, located deep within the eye. Implants work by stimulating those healthy receptors and sending electrical signals to the brain. They can be very effective, but they’re also bulky and complex, requiring inductive coils and cables to provide power. Instead, this method uses pulses of infrared light to stimulate implanted silicon diodes. Read more at link