The Argus II, developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and marketed by Second Sight, is on sale in the EU for about $115,000, but still awaiting FDA approval here in the US. With the Argus II, blind patients use an external camera to pick up video that is wirelessly transmitted to an electrode array surgically implanted in the eye. While full vision is not restored, the 60+ electrodes allow for some distinction of outlines and other basic shapes. That’s 60 points of data for your eye to interpret. The Argus III, currently under development at LLNL, should have 200+ electrodes.
Argus: Artificial Retina Let the Blind See Again