Bionic eye: hope for blind
Ron, A 73-year-old man is able to see flashes of light after being blind for thirty. Team of doctors led by Lyndon da Cruz, the Moorfield's Eye Hospital in London fitted Ron with a bionic eye seven months back.
Argus II, the bionic eye was developed by US company Second Sight. Doctors explain that bionic eye uses a camera and video processor mounted on sunglasses to send captured images wirelessly to a tiny receiver on the outside of eye. Then the receiver passes on the data via a tiny cable to an array of electrodes which sit on the retina -- the layer of specialised cells that respond to light found at the back of the eye.
Doctors added that when these electrodes are stimulated they send messages along the optic nerve to the brain, which is able to perceive patterns of light and dark spots corresponding to which electrodes have been stimulated.
Ron said: "For 30 years I've seen absolutely nothing at all, it's all been black, but now light is coming through. Suddenly to be able to see light again is truly wonderful."
