Bionic eye helps UK pensioner see

Retina reacts to signals from tiny camera in glasses

LONDON // A partially sighted British pensioner has had most of his vision restored with a bionic eye – a device that converts video images from a miniature camera in his glasses and transmits them to his retina.

The University of Manchester announced the success of the operation on retired engineer Ray Flynn yesterday , saying it was a world first for the 80-yearold’s particular condition.

Mr Flynn has age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a condition that affects more than 500,000 people in Britain and is the most common cause of blindness in people aged over 50 in developing countries.

The condition means that his vision has been impaired and he cannot see things directly in front of him. This prevents him from reading or driving and makes it difficult for him to recognise faces. The statement said that Mr Flynn was now looking forward to watching his beloved football team, Manchester United, play and doing the gardening.

“Mr Flynn’s progress is truly remarkable ... he is seeing the outline of people and objects very effectively,” said Prof Paulo Stanga, who led the four-hour operation. “The dry form of AMD is a common but untreatable condition. In the western world, it is the leading cause of sight loss. Unfortunately, with an ageing population, it is becoming more common.”

The device was fitted in June and activated on July 1.

Retinal degenerative diseases such as AMD affect more than 30 million people around the world, according to the US-based Foundation Fighting Blindness.

Bionic retinas are no longer restricted to the realm of science fiction and already help blind or partially blind people affected by other conditions.

The technology has been used on dozens of people with retinitis pigmentosa.

It turns images captured by the camera into small electrical pulses, which are then transmitted wirelessly to electrodes on the surface of the retina.

The electrodes then stimulate the remaining cells and replicate patterns of light for the brain, which will eventually be interpreted fully by Mr Flynn, allowing him to regain vision.

British pensioner Ray Flynn, who suffers from age-related macular degeneration, wears a ‘bionic eye’, a device that converts images from a miniature camera installed in his glasses to his retina.

Signal from the camera is processed by a computer on Mr Flynn’s hip, and sent wirelessly to an implant in the eye, above, which bypasses retinal damage, stimulating healthy cells to activate the optic nerve.