RetGen

In a prototype study across four clinics in Germany and Austria last year, 20 people suffering from retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic condition that causes tunnel vision and eventually complete blindness, had the software implant in their eye. All but one said that their visual perception had improved.

A spokesperson for IIP Technologies told E-Health Insider that although the trial was not intended to give functional vision for the volunteers, the subjects saw spots of lights when the chip stimulated their retinas. The trial had initially been carried out to check the levels of electrical intensity needed to stimulate the optic nerve.
'Chip in the eye can improve sight' in E-Health Insider (10 June 2005)