Bionic eye could help the blind to see again

Blindness could be partially cured using a bionic 'eye' which beams images directly into the brain.

Researchers from Australia's Monash University are working on an advanced system that could restore some level of sight to the blind.

It requires 11 small tiles to be implanted into various parts of the brain, that receive and process signals from a camera.

Each of the 11 tiles will contain 43 electrodes which can stimulate the brain to create dots of light.

But the images received by the brain will be far inferior to those sent by healthy eyes.

The bionic devices will create just under 500 pixels of vision, compared to around 1.5 million pixels created by typical eyeballs.

Researchers have compared the images created to those on 1920s television prototypes.

People using the technology would have to wear a special pair of glasses which tracks their eye movement.

An on-board digital camera would then send signals to the tiles within the brain to create a rough image.

Researchers are now trying to find volunteers to test the experimental procedure.