31 March 2010
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, whose government committed 42 million Australian dollars to the project, said the device could be “one of the most important advances we see in our lifetime”.
“The bionic eye project will keep Australia at the forefront of bionic research and commercialisation and has the potential to restore sight to thousands of people across the world,” he said.
The device, part of which is surgically implanted in the eye, is designed for patients suffering from degenerative vision loss caused by the genetic condition retinitis pigmentosa or age–related macular degeneration. It consists of a miniature camera, mounted on glasses, that captures images and sends them to a processor the wearer keeps in their pocket. The processor then transmits a signal wirelessly to an implant in the eye which will directly stimulate surviving neurons in the retina, signalling an image to the brain.
Those using the bionic eye will not have perfect vision restored, but they will be able to perceive points of light in their field of vision which the brain can then reconstruct into an image.
Research director of Bionic Vision Australia, the university and research institute partnership which has produced the prototype, Anthony Burkitt said the device could change people’s lives.
“This is truly a revolution and will be the biggest thing in terms of blindness and low vision since Louis Braille invented the Braille alphabet over 200 years ago,” said Kevin Murfitt, chairman of the Vision Australia.
It is now being tested ahead of the first human implant in 2013.