Blind people could regain their sight with ‘bionic eyes’

Hopes of a cure for blindness have been
raised with the development of ‘bionic
eyes’.


Now in the clinical trial stage, the robotic
eyes are made from a pair of glasses
mounted with a camera, linked wirelessly
to an implant in the retina (the light
sensitive layer at the back of the eye).
The implant will send
information to the
brain about what light
the camera sees,
helping patients to
regain some sight.
After trying it out, one
patient was amazed
to be able to recognise large letters for the
first time in his adult life.
The next stage of the development is that
the NHS will pay for 10 people with an
inherited form of blindness to be fitted
with the ‘bionic eye’ implants.
Five patients with a condition known as
retinitis pigmentosa will be treated at the
Manchester Royal Eye Hospital and five at
Moorfields Eye Hospital in London next
year.

They will be monitored for one year to see
how the implant improves their lives.
Keith Hayman, from Lancashire, was one
of the first to have the bionic eye implant
fitted during a trial in 2009.
The 68-year-old, who was diagnosed with
retinitis pigmentosa in his twenties, was
forced to retire as a butcher in 1981 when
he became blind.
He said: ‘Having
spent half my life in
darkness, I can now
tell when my
grandchildren run
towards me and
make out lights
twinkling on
Christmas trees.
‘When I used to go to the pub, I would be
talking to a friend, who might have walked
off and I couldn’t tell and kept talking to
myself.
‘This doesn’t happen any more because I
can tell when they have gone. These little
things make all the difference to me.’
Dr Jonathan Fielden, director of
specialised commissioning at NHS
England said: ‘This highly innovative NHS-
funded procedure shows real promise and
could change lives.’
The Argus II retinal implant, made by
Second Sight, has also been trialled to
treat those suffering from age-related
macular degeneration – the most common
cause of sight loss in the developed world
with between 20 and 25 million sufferers
worldwide.