Bionic Eye Partly Restores Blind Woman’s Eyesight
This isn’t a story about a new bionic eye technology that’s yet to undergo testing or a cool robotic eye that’s actually just a camera in disguise. This is a story about a bionic eye technology that might actually make it outside the laboratories and into the real world. In May, a prototype of Bionic Vision Australia’s technology was implanted behind one of the retinas of a woman named Dianne Ashworth. When it was switched on recently, 54-year-old Ashworth — who’s been blind for the past 30 years due to retinitis pigmentosa — was able to see lights and shapes again. “I didn’t know what to expect, but all of a sudden, I could see a little flash… It was amazing,” she said. “Every time there was stimulation there was a different shape that appeared in front of my eye.” The researchers still have a lot do before the bionic eye can fully restore a person’s eyesight. But they hope to make it happen after studying Ashworth’s experiences with the implant. They’re developing and testing more advanced prototypes at the moment and have plans to implant those into other patients as well. This article originally published at Tecca here Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/08/31/bionic-eye-blind/