Microchips could be a blindness cure for cats with congenital problems, and the treatment could someday be used in humans.

Kristina Narfstrom, a University of Missouri veterinary ophthalmologist, implants the chip into the retina of Abyssinian or Persian cats with a hereditary disease that often makes them blind by the time they are 4 years old.

The device is 2 millimeters long and 23 micrometers thick. It includes several thousand diodes that react to light and produce small electrical impulses in parts of the retina. The brain turns those impulses into a kind of sight.

A news release from the university said that the treatment could help the one in 3,500 people who suffers retinitis pigmentosa, which kills retinal cells.

The school said cats' eyes are similar in size and design to a human eye.