Gold, laser goggles, and a camera: it's an unlikely combination that could one day be used to restore vision in people with retinal damage, according to researchers.

In a new study published in the journal ACS Nano, the team found that injecting gold nanoparticles into the eyes of mice with retinal disorders helped stimulate the rodents' visual systems and bring back some vision. 

When targeted with infrared lasers, the microscopic gold pieces reproduce electrical signals similar to those emitted by cells in the retina that are essential to eyesight but are damaged by conditions like macular degeneration, which affects some 20 million Americans.