The world’s first bionic eye has been approved by America’s Food
and Drug Administration (FDA). The futuristic retinal prosthesis
will be used to treat a certain type of blindness. The product,
which has been named Argus II, was designed by California-based
Second Sight – which focuses on developing, manufacturing, and
marketing implantable visual prosthetics. It’s a fitting name
for a company which will soon give blind people a second chance
at seeing the world around them. While the bionic eye isn’t a
cure-all for every type of blindness, it will potentially change
the lives of people afflicted with retinitis pigmentosa – a
disorder which damages and kills light-processing cells in the
retina. The disease causes vision to become increasingly blurry
until patients can’t see at all. Around 100,000 people in the US
suffer from the condition. The potentially life changing bionic
eye, which was approved by the FDA on February 14, aids patients
through a four-step process. First, video cameras mounted on the
pati