High-tech help for macular degeneration HOW IT WORKS: Implanted telescope Cornea Pupil Images are usually focused tightly on the macula. Light is magnified up to three times by the telescope, spreading to undamaged areas of the retina. Macula Retina Optic disc Iris Optic nerve Lens Age-related macular degeneration destroys the clear, "straight-ahead" vision needed for reading, driving and performing other daily tasks. It may be possible to see out of the "corner of your eye." A tiny telescope - about the size of a pea - implanted inside one eye, behind the iris, can magnify objects to two or three times their normal size and project the images beyond the scarred macula to the healthy part of the retina. SOURCES: Macular Degeneration Partnership, CentraSight, Sarasota Memorial Hospital STAFF GRAPHIC / BARRY McCARTHY