Helping the blind to see

The Food and Drug Administration approved a treatment today that will help the blind to see. The new technology is called the "artificial retina."

From the New York Times:

The artificial retina is a sheet of electrodes surgically implanted in the eye. The patient is also outfitted with a pair of glasses with an attached camera and a portable video processor. These elements together allow visual signals to bypass the damaged portion of the retina and be transmitted to the brain. The F.D.A. approval covers this integrated system, which the manufacturer calls Argus II.

Pretty cool.