Blind NHS patients to be fitted with pioneering bionic eye
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/dec/22/blind-nhs-patients-to-be-fitted-with-pioneering-bionic-eye
Blind NHS patients to be fitted with pioneering bionic eye
Life-changing technology could become commonplace as first 10 people receive Argus II retina implant to restore sight
Sarah Boseley Health editor
Thursday 22 December 2016 00.01 GMT Last modified on Thursday 22 December 2016 08.13 GMT
The NHS is to pay for 10 people to be implanted with a bionic eye, a pioneering technology that can restore some sight to those who have been blind for years. Only a handful of people have undergone surgery in trials so far to equip them to use Argus II, which employs a camera mounted in a pair of glasses and a tiny computer to relay signals directly to the nerves controlling sight. The decision to fund the first 10 NHS patients to be given the bionic eye could pave the way for the life-changing technology to enter the mainstream.
Those who will get the equipment can currently see nothing more than the difference between daylight and darkness. The system allows the brain to decode flashes of light, so that they can learn to see movement.
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The NHS will fund the first 10 patients during 2017 to have surgery at Manchester and at Moorfields Eye hospital in London. All will be carefully followed, to gather data on their progress and assess how much the bionic eye improves their daily lives. If the results are good, more patients are likely to receive the treatment in the future.
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At the moment, there is no proven benefit from gene and stem cell therapies, said Stanga, even though he believes they will one day help. So the bionic eye is the only treatment that can give back a degree of vision to those who are completely blind..
There are an estimated 16,000 people with RP in the UK with varying degrees of deterioration in their vision. About a tenth can no longer see to count the fingers on a hand. Between 160 and 320 are thought to be eligible for a bionic eye operation. The numbers with age-related macular degeneration, however, are far higher it is the commonest cause of blindness or severe vision loss. The bionic eye treatment, including surgery, follow-up, equipment and rehabilitation, costs £150,000.
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