Bionic eyes implanted in blind patients

How the implant works

Bionic eyes have been implanted in British patients for the first time offering hope to hundreds of thousands of blind people.

Two blind patients underwent the procedure, which surgeons say 'is straight out of science fiction', at Moorfields Eye Hospital in central London last week and are said to be "doing well".
How the 'bionic eye' works

Surgeons implanted an electronic device into the back of the eye to allow the patients to distinguish objects as pictures made up of spots of light.

The device works with a tiny camera mounted in a pair of glasses which transmits a wireless signal via a small processor on a belt into a receiver and a panel of electrodes placed in the back of the eye.

Three more patients will have the four-hour operation as part of an international trial before the technique is evaluated and extended.

At first patients who are completely blind due to an inherited condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa are being treated but eventually it could be offered to thousands of patients as the devices are perfected.