Eco Factor: Eye implants powered by onboard solar cells.
Researchers at Stanford University have developed photovoltaic chip implants for people suffering from degradation in their photoreceptor cells. The implants feature miniature solar cells that power the processing retinal chip.
The device includes a video camera to capture the image, a pocket PC to process the image and a bright near-infrared LCD screen to produce enough light to enter the eye and charge the photovoltaic cell.
With a width of just 3mm, the chip has three layers, each of which has three photovoltaic cells of different sizes that are flexibly mounted onto the retina. The self-powered implant gives 20/100 vision, which is sufficient to recognize faces and read large print.
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