Bionic eye to cure blindness in old age
British man’s surgery gives hope to 500,000 with age related macular degeneration
A BRITISH pensioner has become the first person in the world to be fitted with a bionic eye to fix the most common form of blindness, in an operation that offers hope to hundreds of thousands of people.
Ray Flynn, 80, has been unable to recognise faces since he developed age related macular degeneration (AMD) eight years ago.
But in June he was fitted with an electrical implant which sends a video feed to the undamaged cells in his retina from a tiny camera attached to his glasses, effectively restoring his sight.
The development marks a breakthrough for advanced dry AMD, an illness that affects the sight of about 500,000 people in the UK and for which there is currently no treatment.
Although doctors are looking for more test subjects, the bionic eye could eventually be available for NHS patients following the breakthrough by scientists at Manchester University.
George Freeman, the minister for life sciences, said last night: “This ground-breaking research highlights the crucial role of the NHS as a test-bed for 21st century medicine.
“In investing over £1 billion a year into the National Institute for Health Research, we provide trials like this one with the state-of-the-art facilities and researchers needed to translate scientific advances into real benefits for patients.”
Advanced dry AMD is the biggest cause of sight loss in Britain, with sufferers losing their ability to see in the centre of their field of vision, making it difficult to read and recognise faces. The bionic eye has already been used successfully for people suffering the condition retinitis pigmentosa but had not been adapted to treat AMD. Its success means Mr Flynn can not only recognise the faces of his family and watch television in more detail, but while wearing the special video glasses he can even see with his eyes shut.
He is the first person in the world to have both artificial and natural vision combined. “I can now actually see the face of my brother Pete,” said the retired engineer from Manchester. “I have central vision now, which I haven’t had for eight years.”
Mr Flynn was fitted with the implant on June 16 and the system was switched on two weeks later. Paulo Stanga, the consultant ophthalmologist who carried out the operation at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, is hopeful Mr Flynn’s vision will keep improving.
“Mr Flynn’s progress is truly remarkable,” said Mr Stanga. “He is seeing the outline of people and objects very effectively. This technology is revolutionary and changes patients’ lives, restoring some functional vision and helping them to live more independently.”
Cathy Yelf, the chief executive of the Macular Society, said: “This is an exciting result and we are following the progress of these trials with great interest. Macular degeneration can be a devastating condition and very many people are now affected as we live longer. In time this research may lead to a really useful device for people who lose their central vision.”
AT THE age of 80, Ray Flynn never expected he would become a guinea pig for one of the world’s most advanced medical innovations.
When he was approached by doctors from Manchester Royal Eye Hospital asking if he would like to take part in a landmark trial to restore his vision he quickly agreed.
Like hundreds of thousands of Britons, age related macular degeneration had left him with only peripheral vision, the middle of his sight obscured by a grey blob.
For years he had struggled to make out the faces of loved ones, or watch his beloved Manchester United on the television.
But he did not realise how complex the procedure would be until a 16-page document arrived informing him he was to be fitted with a bionic eye.
Reading it slowly through a magnifying glass, he discovered that surgeons were asking to beam video images directly to his brain, bypassing the damaged photoreceptors in his eyes.
“I was quite amazed they wanted to try this out on me,” he said, “They set out the ups and downs of it in the document and I thought, well why not? Even if it doesn’t help me it might help someone else in the future.”
On June 16, Mr Flynn, from Audenshaw, Manchester, had a four-hour operation in which surgeons implanted electrodes on to the surface of his retina which would link wirelessly to a video camera attached to a pair of removable glasses.
After allowing the wound to heal they switched on the device on July 1. Immediately Mr Flynn could make out lines and shapes on a com- puter screen, and his vision has been improving daily.
“Before, when I was looking at a plant in the garden, it was like a honeycomb in the centre of my eye,” he said. “That has now disappeared. I can now walk round the garden and see things. I can see my brother’s face now.
“It’s definitely improved my vision but I haven’t been out and about on a bus yet. But I use it to watch television at night and that is better now.”
Now he is counting the days to the start of the new Premier League season. Unmarried Mr Flynn was a reg- ular at Old Trafford in his younger days.
His brother, Pete, 77, said: “We don’t miss a game on the television but he can’t make out the players on the pitch and he can only watch if he sits in a certain position and looks from the corner of his eye.
“He is also into his cooking and is a fan of Delia Smith. He does a lot of it by instinct but using a magnifying glass to follow a recipe takes him a long time and he tries very hard with that.”
AMD is the most common cause of sight loss in the developed world with between 20 and 25 million sufferers. Mr Flynn is affected by dry AMD which does not affect his outer vision but is currently untreatable.
The Argus II retinal implant that he received has been successfully used worldwide on more than 130 patients with the rare eye disease retinitis pigmentosa. However those patients, unlike Mr Flynn, had no peripheral vision.
Prof Paulo Stanga, consultant ophthalmologist at the Royal Eye Hospital, who carried out the operation, said: “We are hoping to improve Ray’s central vision so he does not have to work so hard with his peripheral vision.
“This is new information that Ray’s brain is receiving and his brain now needs to get used to interpreting it.”
‘He’s a fan of Delia Smith, but using a magnifying glass to read a recipe is hard’