In 1991, when Second Sight's Dr. Greenberg was still in medical training at Johns Hopkins University, he watched a retinal surgeon perform a procedure where he placed a wire in a patient's eye and ran a bit of electrical current through it, and the patient saw a spot of light.

WSJ: FDA Approves Bionic Eye

At a recent conference I attended with my wife, who is a retinal surgeon, I witnessed a debate over two treatments for macular degeneration that illustrates the problems.

FORBES: Wrong Incentives in Medicare Waste Billions

With a number of academic collaborators, they fashioned an early retinal implant from a cochlear implant for the ear with 16 electrodes, each of which stimulated a small area of the retina.

WSJ: FDA Approves Bionic Eye