New implant delivers hope to partially blind

A partially blind woman has been able to detect signals in one eye thanks to a revolutionary ­implant that could be a key to sight restoration.

New technology could mean hope for the partially blind.

A partially blind woman has been able to detect signals in one eye thanks to a revolutionary ­implant that offers hope for sight restoration.

The 88-year-old British grandmother received the life-changing device as part of a ­Europe-wide clinical trial.

The technology offers the hope of partially restored vision for people with a common form of dry age-related macular degeneration, which can cause sight loss. About one in seven Australians aged over 50 have signs of AMD.

The procedure involves inserting a 2mm-wide microchip under the centre of the retina by surgically creating a “trapdoor”.

The patient uses special glasses containing a video camera connected to a small computer attached to their waistband.

The chip captures the visual scene projected by the glasses and transmits it to the computer, which processes the information and instructs the glasses to focus on what it perceives to be the main object in the image.

The glasses project the image as an infra-red beam through the eye to the chip, which converts it into an electrical signal. The signal passes into the brain, where it is interpreted as if it were natural vision.

The technology is being tested on people who have lost vision in one eye due to geographic ­atrophy, an advanced form of AMD. It is progressive and has no treatment.

About 12 per cent of those aged over 80 have dry AMD and 6.7 per cent will suffer geographic atrophy.

The Times