In Australia, ground-breaking research leads scientist to develop the world’s first bionic eye.
A patient in Australia, Dianne Ashworth, who has severe vision loss due to the inherited condition retinitis pigmentosa, was fitted with an early prototype bionic eye in May this year during surgery at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne.
The bionic eye is equipped with 24 electrodes and a small lead wire that extends from the back of the eye to a receptor attached behind her ear.
After the device was switched on in July, Ms Ashworth described seeing a flash of light.
“It was was really funny when it switched,” she said. “I didn’t know what to expect and I don’t know if anyone did know what I was going to see and then all of a sudden I went ‘yep’ I could see a little flash.”
“When the first bigger image came I just went ‘Wow,’ because I just didn’t expect it at all but it was amazing.”
