Eye implant restores vision to blind patients The implant, developed by Retina Implant AG, is fitted underneath the retina at the back of the eye and relies on the eye's natural focusing power to transmit light to it. It then carries out the normal function of the damaged cells, using 1,500 electrodes to convert light into electrical impulses which are passed up the optic nerve into the brain. Previous eye implants have relied on external cameras, rather than the eye itself, to take in light before transmitting it into electrical signals. Dr Tim Jackson, a consultant retinal surgeon at King's College Hospital and one of the trial leaders, explained: "You can think of the retina as the film in the back of a camera. That has died away but the remaining connections are still intact and we can use these to transmit a signal to the brain. The chip replicates the action of the cells that have died away. Trials of the implant began in Germany six years ago and the first two British patients had the devices fitted in eight-hour operations last month. A further ten British RP sufferers, all in the late stages of the condition, will be fitted with the device at King's College Hospital in London and the Oxford Eye Hospital. Robin Millar, 60, from London, is one of the patients who is testing the chip. He said: "Since switching on the device I am able to detect light and distinguish the outlines of certain objects which is an encouraging sign. I have even dreamt in very vivid colour for the first time in 25 years so a part of my brain which had gone to sleep has woken up. Dr Jackson warned that patients only gained an approximation of normal vision which amounted more to a "perception" of what was in front of them than actual sight, but added that it could make a vast difference to their everyday life and independence. He said: "The patients can see fairly basic shapes and distinguish a white plate on a dark table, for example. It may be that with time their vision becomes more refined because the brain has to relearn how to see. The vision they have is not the same as what they had before they lost it. They see flashes of light in the shape of an object and they have to translate that into an image.