Work on implant technology has been ongoing since the 1990s, with a focus on the miniaturization of components. At the cutting edge, around 1,000 electrons are currently used within. They can only do a fraction of what the millions of photoreceptors in the retina can perceive. Nevertheless, even low visual performance with the recognition of rough patterns, outlines and movements means significantly better quality of life for those affected.
Currently, the greatest progress in miniaturizing and improving the technology has been achieved by a group of researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, the University of Freiburg and the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, who have succeeded in developing an electrode the size of a single neuron. The main problem, in this case the corrosion, was minimized by a unique mixture of materials, allowing the implants to remain in the body for a longer period.
The basis for the use of visual implants is the visual cortex in the brain. It also functions in blind people if part of the eye is damaged. It transmits information from the retina or from the electrons of the visual implants to the brain, where an image can be generated. The ultra-thin implant that has now been developed is only 40 micrometers wide and 10 micrometers thick, making it the size of a split hair. It is described as a thread with many electrodes arranged one behind the other. A visual implant would require several threads with thousands of electrodes.