Surgeons seeking candidates for new 'bionic eye' implants

by Steven Mostyn - Dec 21 2010, 10:20

In a move that could well result in the emergence of a technology-based cure for blindness, surgeons based at King’s College Hospital in London are now looking for six potential patients to further test sight-giving ‘bionic’ retinal implants.

Developed by Retina Implant AG, the retina device has already passed through successful short-term trials in Germany that enabled patients afflicted with destructive retinitis pigmentosa to see well enough to read letters and recognise faces.

By installing the implant permanently beneath the retina, doctors hope to provide patients with a form of digital sight that’s created as the brain processes electrical signals delivered by the 1,500 light sensors housed across the implant’s 3mm sq surface.

“We are delighted to be involved in testing this pioneering technology,” said lead surgeon Dr. Tim Jackson. “The results demonstrated by the German team are genuinely impressive, and they represent an important step towards artificial vision that could greatly enhance the quality of life for people with and incurable, blinding disease.”

Potential candidates for the new King’s College Hospital trial, which will see the installed implant powered by an induction coil located behind the ear, must be UK citizens that have suffered total or near total blindness due to retinitis pigmentosa damage. The trials are expected to start in March of 2011.

One in every 3,000 people in the UK suffers from the inherited disorder retinitis pigmentosa, which slowly degrades retinal function and can leave those affected completely blind by the age of 30.

Medical experts hope the technology, if deemed a success, could also be used to treat age-related macular degeneration—the most common form of blindness in the elderly.

Results connected to initial tests of the retina implant were published last month in leading biology journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

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