World First: Blind Woman Gains Partial Sight with Bionic Eye
- 05 Sep
A Bionic eye has successfully given a blind woman partial sight - and offers new hope to of a potential cure to restore vision.
Dianne Ashworth was fitted with a prototype bionic eye in May at Australia's Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, which was switched on in June.
Researchers have revealed the device can restore mild vision, allowing patients to make out major contrasts and edges such as light and dark objects for the first time.
The bionic eye was designed, built and tested by the Bionic Vision Australia, a consortium of researchers funded by the Australian government.
The eye is equipped with 24 electrodes with a small wire that extends from the back of the eye to a receptor attached behind the ear and is put in to the space next to the retina within the eye.
Bionic Vision Australia said the way it was fitted and operated made it the first of its kind in the world.
Surgeon Dr Penny Allan, who fitted the eye, said: "The device electrically stimulates the retina and electrical impulses are passed through the device, which then stimulate the retina. Those impulses then pass back to the brain, creating the image.
"We didn't want to have a device that was too complex in a surgical approach that was very difficult to learn.
"What we're going to be doing is restoring a type of vision which is probably going to be black and white, but what we're hoping to do for these patients who are severely visually impaired is to give them mobility."
Around 39 million people worldwide are blind and 246 million have very poor vision.
Related articles
- 01 Jul
SCOTLAND AHEAD OF THE UK ON BUILDING NEW HOMES
SNP Housing Minister, Kevin Stewart said the following while commenting on Social Security and Equalities in the Scottish Parliament, SCN reports:"These figures demonstrate Scotland's strong...
- 23 Jun
HEALTHY DIETS FOR CARE HOMES
Joanna Cox, a manager of Chandos Lodge, said:"Food is a huge factor in our residents' lives and we want to ensure the meals we provide not only satisfy their tastes but benefit their health."Healthy...
- 16 Jun
DO HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE SERVICES NEED INTEGRATION?
Although, many integration initiatives have been introduced across the NHS; For example, vanguard sites to the prime minister's Challenge Fund and integrated care pioneers- many involving GP...
- 15 Jun
LANDLORDS DIVIDED ON HOW TO VOTE IN EU REFERENDUM
The findings show that landlords are evenly split, with 35% intending to vote leave and 35% intending to vote to remain, reports Housing Excellence.According to Richard Lambert, the NLA's Chief...
- 10 Dec
Highest records of working families since 1996
Research has also shown that parents of young children, who were part of a couple, were almost twice as likely to be in a job. In comparison to older mothers, young mothers under 24 were only half as...
- 05 Dec
What percentage of people have mental disorders in the UK?
Percentage of adults suffering from common mental disorders:Prevalence of common mental disorders:Women (19.7%) are significantly more likely to experience common mental health disorders than men...
- 03 Dec
Safe Tweets, safe Twitter
Twitter is one of the most popular platforms where users across the globe collectively contribute 500 million Tweets every day. However, it can sometimes be inevitable that you come across content...
- 17 Jun
Google Creates System to Eradicate Child Abuse Images
Pressure was on the company to do something about the problem after it emerged that men convicted of murdering Tia Sharp, aged 12, and April Jones, aged 5, had been viewing the indecent images online...
- 04 Jun
How Councils Can Improve Home Care
Read the full article at Community Care.Southwark council has agreed in principle to Unison's ethical home care charter and is working with local providers to find out how they could raise pay ...
- 31 May
Man Aged 83 is First Reported Assisted Suicide for Dementia
Reported @ BBC News | Health on 31/5/13He was assessed as mentally competent to make the decision at the centre in Switzerland, as he was only in the first stages of the disease.He did not want to...
Revenue Optimisation "We really appreciate the work that Support Solutions did for Home Group in securing significant additional revenue for our supported housing schemes. This really will make a positive difference to the way in which we support our vulnerable tenants". Dave Coope - Home Group
