In one of the rare surgical feats, British doctors have fitted a blind man with a bionic eye that has given the 73-year-old “eyesight”.

A team at the Moorfield’s Eye Hospital in London, led by Lyndon da Cruz, has carried out the “experimental” surgery seven months back on Ron who lost his sight 30 years ago, the ‘BBC News’ portal reported.

The bionic eye, known as Argus II and developed by US company Second Sight, uses a camera and video processor mounted on sunglasses to send captured images wirelessly to a tiny receiver on the outside of eye, according to the doctors.

And, in turn, 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.

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, they said.

Bureau Report
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