Jan. 12, 00 -- Richard Maudsley was seven years old when his poor eyesight caught up with him.

Richard Maudsley: "I was having trouble reading, and I denied of course there was anything wrong with my vision."

Despite his resistance, Maudsley was declared legally blind and has been wearing glasses ever since but not just any glasses. He wears the extra thick types reserved for people with only the poorest vision.

Rick McCarley: "These people have vision qualities that are very similar to being underwater in very murky water."

Maudsley is among a select group of people in North America to undergo an experimental form of vision correction. What looks like a miniature contact lens is being implanted into his right eye and will stay there permanently.

Dr. Richard Schanzlin: "This procedure works by putting a lens inside the eye on top of the iris, and so the light is refocused and the patient can see without glasses."

They're called intraocular lenses. Physicians in the U.S. are hoping to get FDA approval on the procedure by 2002. But like any surgical procedure, this one doesn't come without risks.

Perry Binder: "All of the lenses have the risk of detachment of the retina. Any time you open up an eye on someone who is very nearsighted that's a risk."

It's estimated that sixty million Americans wear glasses or contacts. The intraocular lenses may eventually help eight million of them see normally.

Twenty-four hours after surgery Richard is doing something he's never been able to do in his life--read the eye chart without help from his glasses.

Dr. Richard Schanzlin: "His vision before the operation was that he could only see the big E on the chart when we brought it very close to him. Of course today he could drive a car."

Richard Maudsley: "I feel great. I do. I really do. I'm just delighted. I never really believed it would happen."

Hundreds of people are being recruited to take part in clinical trials across the country. To find out if you qualify, log onto the internet at healthsurfing.com.