Human trials to start on world first Aussie bionic eye that will restore sight to the blind
A BIONIC eye that can restore the sight of blind people will be tested in humans in a world-first application of cutting edge Australian-developed technology.
NSW
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A BIONIC eye that can restore sight in blind people will be tested in humans in a world-first application of cutting-edge Australian-developed technology.
Human trials are about to start on the implantable wireless bionic brain device that has the potential to change the lives of millions of blind people worldwide.
A decade in the making, the surgically implanted device comes with a coiled antenna which sits on the back of the head and transmits data from a camera into the brain — bypassing sightless eyes — to restore vision.
Neurosurgeon Professor Jeffrey Rosenfeld said blind people fitted with the brain device would see flashes of light straight away, but not a high-definition image.
“It will restore enough vision to improve their level of function in activities of daily living, like recognising objects on a table and when people near them are moving,” Prof Rosenfeld said.
“They won’t be able to recognise the detail of a person’s face unless they hear the voice but they will be able to recognise where a staircase is, where a door or door handle is — common things you need to navigate the environment in everyday life.”
The groundbreaking project, which has just won $500,000 in federal funding and ethics committee approval to develop, was showcased to medical experts at an innovations and technology event in Western Sydney yesterday.
Now, Prof Rosenfeld and his team from the Monash Vision Group are searching for several fully blind Australians to sign up for the trials, which will be followed by a much larger test program.
“We have about 50 people on our books straight away who are keen to go ahead … there are 50,000 blind people in Australia but not all will be candidates for this (device),” he said.
The blind person wears custom-designed glasses, fitted to the rear of the brain, with a tiny camera mounted on the frame — similar in size to that of a mobile phone — which takes images and transmits them to a mini computer sitting on the person’s belt or in their pocket.
More than $15 million has been spent on the project so far and more funds will be needed to expand the trials nationally or globally and attract investor support to commercialise it.
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Prof Rosenfeld said it was not known yet how much the device would cost but it was hoped the expense for the user would be covered by insurance.
Human trials will take six to 12 months and will start later this year with results to be reported in 2019.
HOW IT WORKS
THE Gennaris bionic vision device is designed to bypass damage to the eye and optic nerve and restore functional vision to people who have lost their sight through traumatic injury and conditions such as glaucoma and acquired retinal disease.
High-resolution images from the camera are fed to a vision processor unit which applies a number of signal processing techniques to extract the most useful features from the camera images.
The new signal is fed via a wireless transmitter to up to 11 devices or “tiles” surgically implanted in the primary visual cortex of the brain. Each tile houses its own circuitry, wireless receiver and 43 hair-thin microelectrodes that stimulate the neurons in the primary visual cortex.