An 80-year old pensioner from Manchester, England has been fitted with a functioning bionic eye, restoring his central vision after a decade of partial sightedness.
Retired engineer Ray Flynn, who suffers from a condition called advanced dry age related macular degeneration, was fitted with a retinal implant called Argus II. Flynn's condition has caused him to lose his central vision, but his peripheral vision is still intact.
Performed over four hours at the Manchester Royal Eye hospital, the operation on Flynn is the first time to use the technology to treat the condition; it has been previously used to treat patient with the rare eye disease retinitis pigmentosa.
Developed by Second Sight Medical Products, the Argus II technology converts video images taken by a miniature camera mounted to the patient's glasses into tiny electrical pulses, which are then sent wirelessly to electrodes implanted on the surface of the retina.
The electrical pulses stimulate the remaining retinal cells in the eye, replicating the way the eye perceives light patterns.
Although the Argus II cannot deliver the clarity of sight that normal vision does, it may be safe to say that the procedure is an impressive success, with Flynn reporting that he can discern patterns of vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines on a TV screen two weeks after the surgery.
He now has low-resolution central vision, enough to comprehend football games being shown on his television screen. The technology transmits images to his retina even when his eyes are closed.
Encouraged by the success of the procedure on Flynn, the facilitators of the experimental procedure are looking to help more people suffering from the condition, which is a leading cause of blindness among senior citizens.
Professor Paulo Stanga, consultant ophthalmologist and vitreoretinal surgeon at the Manchester Royal Eye hospital, says that they will be adding four more people to the trials, adding that "this technology is revolutionary and changes patients' lives by restoring some functional vision and helping them to live more independently."
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