Bionic Vision Australia’s first prototype bionic eye implanted

implanted the first prototype 24-electrode retinal implant (bionic eye).
Two more implants are scheduled to be performed soon.
The fale patient has retinitis pigmentosa and had implanted what she calls
a ??pre-bionic eye (developmental prototype) implant that enables her to
experience some ??vision.
The implantation was the culmination of years of research and development by
BVA. The patient’s implant was switched on for the first time last month at
the Bionics Institute in Melbourne.
I didn’t know what to expect, but all of a sudden, I could see a little
flash it was amazing. Every time there was stimulation there was a
different shape that appeared in front of my eye, the patient, Dianne
Ashworth, 54, said.
Prof eritus David Penington, BVA’s chairman said on 29 August: These
results have fulfilled our best expectations, giving us confidence that with
further development we can achieve useful vision. Much still needs to be
done in using the current implant to ??build images for (the patient). The
next big step will be when we commence implants of the full devices.
Prof Anthony Burkitt, director of BVA said: This outcome is a strong
example of what a multi-disciplinary research team can achieve. Funding from
the Australian Government was critical in reaching this important milestone.
The Bionics Institute and the surgeons at the Centre for Eye Research
Australia played a critical role in reaching this point.
Prof Rob Shepherd, Director of the Bionics Institute, led the team
responsible for the early prototype with support from Cochlear Ltd, the
cochlear implant group that is part of BVA.
Dr Penny Allen, a specialist surgeon at the Centre for Eye Research
Australia, led the surgical team that implanted the prototype at the Royal
Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital.
The implant prototype Courtesy of the Bionics Institute
Dianne Ashworth, 54, with surgeon Penny Allen
Photograph: David Mirabella