VIDEO: Bionic eye helps man see wife for first time in ten years

Published February 24, 2015 4:09pm

Thanks to a bionic implant, a blind man finally got to see his wife for the first time in 10 years.

Allen Zderad, 68, became the first person in Minnesota state and the 15th in the United States to receive a bionic eye, according to a report by KARE-11 in Minneapolis.

"Yes!" Zderad said when he saw his wife, when the device was activated, as shown in a YouTube video posted by the Mayo Clinic.

Zderad suffers from the degenerative genetic eye disease retinitis pigmentosa. His wife of 45 years, Carmen, served as his sighted guide.

"His whole life we have heard – nothing can be done, nothing can be done, it's all we've heard, until now," said Mrs. Zderad.

How it works

"It's crude but it's significant. It'll work!" Zderad said of the device, before hugging and holding hands with his wife.

A report on Minnesota's KARE-11 said the device resembles a pair of dark-tinted sunglasses: a camera on the bridge of the glasses is powered through a small cable running to a hip-fastened battery pack.

The camera sends basic visual information to a set of 60 electrodes surgically implanted into Zderad's retina, which then sends electrical impulses via the optic nerve to his brain.

Basic sight

A separate report on tech site Mashable said the clinical trial allowed Zderad to "see shapes, make out human forms and even see his own reflection in a window."

But Mashable added this is just the start of treatment, and the Mayo Clinic said more adjustments and hours of physical therapy are needed for Zderad.

Mayo Clinic retinal surgeon and clinical ophthalmologist Dr. Raymond Iezzi chose Zderad to receive the bionic eye, dubbed the "Second Sight Argus II."

The device earned the Food and Drug Administration's nod in January 2014 after 25 years and up to $500 million to develop.

The operation to insert the implants took three hours, the report said.

"It's not a replacement for the eyeball, but it works with interacting with the eye," said Iezzi.

Second patient

KARE-11 said Iezzi is already planning on implanting the device in a second patient.

He is also looking at future uses for patients who have other eye conditions such as glaucoma, or soldiers who may have lost their eyes in combat. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News

Tags: bionics, bioniceye, robot, blindness