Blind Minnesota man sees his wife for the first time in 10 years with the aid of Bionic eye implant.
360R: Allen Zderad was a very happy man when he saw his wife for the first in 10-years with the help of new technology, Bionic eye.
It was nearly 20 years ago, when Allen’s vision began deteriorating. He was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that currently has no effective treatment or cure, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Zderad was the first ideal patient for the clinical trial, which the Mayo Clinic describes as a “bionic eye implant that sends light wave signals to the optic nerve, bypassing the damaged retina.
“A tiny wafer-like chip was embedded in his right eye, wires attached in a surgical procedure in January, then two weeks later, the rest of the prosthetic device set in glasses was activated”, said the hospital sources.
The technology works with wires from the implant connected to glasses and a camera at the bridge of the nose. The implant bypasses the damaged retina and sends images from the camera directly to the optic nerve.
The Mayo Clinic said that this is just the beginning of the treatment as more adjustments are necessary, and hours of physical therapy lie ahead for Zderad.
Either way, there is light at the end of the tunnel for Zderad and his family.
