Strategies for restoring vision to the blind: current and emerging technologies

This paper reviews the current state of the art in the design of retinal prostheses that hope to restore vision to the blind. The progress and the challenges faced by electronic implants are discussed. Additionally, the emerging technologies in the field are also reviewed. These include optogenetics and chemical interfaces that interface to the neural system. These emerging fields have made tremendous progress in the last few years and offer new hope in the design of retinal prosthetic devices. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.