The amazing bionic eye that lets the blind see with the help of a microchip

By Fiona Macrae and Claire Bates
Last updated at 4:32 PM on 5th November 2010

A 46-year-old man thought he would never see again after a devastating eye disease robbed him of his sight.

Yet these amazing pictures show the moment Miikka Terho was able to identify a banana placed before him and spell out his name after he was fitted with a revolutionary microchip.

The implant is placed at the back of the eye allowing men and women who thought they would never be able to see again to read the hands of a clock and identify everyday objects.

One man saw his girlfriend’s smile for the first time, while another was able to read his own name.

It is thought the device could even work in certain cases of blindness from birth.
Video footage released by the Royal Society shows patient Mr Terho from Finland studying an apple and a banana.

'This one on the right looks longer and is curving,' he told scientists looking on.
'It could be a banana,' he adds, causing the team to break out in spontaneous applause.

The results have been described as ‘quite astonishing’ by eye surgeons and the first Britons could be benefiting within months.

Experts say the sub-retinal implant could revolutionise the treatment of blindness in the same way as cochlear implants have transformed the life of the deaf.

First to benefit will be people with retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary disease that gradually destroys the light-sensitive retina at the back of the eye leading to total blindness.

But in time, the bionic eye could also be used to treat age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in the elderly, which has no cure and affects some 500,000 Britons.

Robert MacLaren, an Oxford University professor of ophthalmology, said: ‘Now when I discuss eye disease with patients, I can, at least in some cases, hold out some hope. For a patient, it will make it easier to deal with the somewhat appalling prognosis that they are going to lose their sight.’

The device, the brainchild of German firm Retina Implant AG, consists of a very thin microchip, just 3mm by 3mm in size and packed with 1,500 light sensors designed to replace those in the retina lost to disease.

Although bionic eyes have been piloted before, this battery-powered implant is the first not to require cumbersome accessories such as a camera mounted on dark glasses.

Today, a prestigious journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, describes how the implant allowed two blind men and a woman to see shapes and objects for the first time since losing their sight to retinitis pigmentosa.

Within days, all three could ­visually locate objects placed on a table, including a cup and saucer. Several more have been treated since.

Researcher Dr Eberhart Zrenner, founder of Retina Implants, said: ‘One young patient told me how he looked at his girlfriend and saw her smiling. Another patient was sitting in her garden and suddenly discovered a sunflower outlined against the sky.

‘One saw bugs moving across the grass. Another looked up at the sky and saw the white line left by an aeroplane. It gives them back not only mobility but also pleasure.'

Professor MacLaren, who plans to start testing the device in Britain early next year, described the results as ‘quite astonishing’. The consultant eye surgeon said: ‘Up until now, this concept would have been considered only in the realms of science fiction.

‘The level of vision is rudimentary, but we’re talking about making someone who is completely blind see well enough to walk around without a guide dog.’
The device is expected to cost £20,000 to £45,000, on a par with training a guide dog.

However, it does not work in all cases and much more work is needed before it becomes widely available, perhaps within five years. Professor MacLaren said: ‘There are still many questions, such as how long the chip will last and how it might be improved.

‘There is little doubt though that this research will progress rapidly.’

Epilepsy drug valproic acid could help in retinitis pigmentosa, study finds

A small preliminary study has found that valproic acid--a drug already used to treat epileptic seizures, migraines and bipolar disorder--may halt or even reverse the loss of vision produced by retinitis pigmentosa, researchers said Thursday. A team from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worchester is now organizing a clinical trial to confirm its observations.

Retinitis pigmentosa, commonly known as RP, is a group of eye diseases marked by degeneration of the retina, the part of the eye that captures images, leading to loss of peripheral vision and night vision. At least 40 genes have been linked to the condition and the particular manifestation of the disease depends on which genes are involved. The only effective treatment involves high levels of vitamin A palmitate, which can slow the progression of the disorder but not halt it. About one in 4,000 people is affected by RP, with many going blind by the age of 40.

Virtually all forms of the disease are characterized by inflammation and cell death. Dr. Shalesh Kaushal, a professor of ophthalmology and cell biology at the university, reasoned that valproic acid, which is known to affect both conditions, might slow the progression of RP, and tissue culture experiments suggested that was the case.

Kaushal and his colleagues then treated seven patients with an early stage of RP with 500 to 750 milligrams of valproic acid per day over the course of two to six months. The team reported in the British Journal of Ophthalmology that vision improved in five of the patients even though they were at a stage when vision loss normally progressed rapidly.

Kaushal is now organizing a three-year, $2.1-million clinical trial of the approach to test it against a placebo. The trial will be funded by the Foundation Fighting Blindness and the National Neurovision Research Institute. The clinical trials will be easier that they would be with an experimental compound because the safety of the drug has already been demonstrated.

Thomas H. Maugh II / Los Angeles Times