- Microchips restore sight to people suffering retinitis pigmentosa - an incurable condition that leads to blindness
- Condition affects one in every 3,000-4,000 people
- Clinical trial with two sufferers 'exceeds expectations'
- Sufferers able to detect outlines of objects 'within days'
- Vision expected to improve further as 3mm chip 'beds in'
By Jenny Hope
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Surgeons in Oxford, led by Professor Robert MacLaren, fitted the chip at the back of Chris' eye in a complex eight-hour operation last month. Chris, from Wiltshire, said: 'I've always had that thought that one day I would be able to see again.'
It was the ‘magic moment’ that released Chris James from ten years of blindness.
Doctors switched on a microchip that had been inserted into the back of his eye three weeks earlier.
After a decade of darkness, there was a sudden explosion of bright light â€" like a flash bulb going off, he says.
Now he is able to make out shapes and light. He hopes his sight â€" and the way his brain interprets what the microchip is showing it â€" will carry on improving.
Mr James, 54, is one of two British men who have had their vision partly restored by a pioneering retina implant.
The other, Robin Millar, one of Britain’s most successful music producers, says he has dreamed in colour for the first time.
Both had lost their vision because of a condition known as retinitis pigmentosa, where the photoreceptor cells at the back of the eye gradually cease to work.
Their stories bring hope to the 20,000 Britons with RP â€" and to those with other eye conditions such as advanced macular degeneration which affects up to half a million.
Mr James had a ten-hour operation to insert the wafer-thin microchip in the back of his left eye at the Oxford University Eye Hospital six weeks ago. Three weeks later, it was turned on.
Mr James, who lives in Wroughton, Wiltshire, with his wife Janet, said of his ‘magic moment’: ‘I did not know what to expect but I got a flash in the eye, it was like someone taking a photo with a flashbulb and I knew my optic nerve was still working.’
The chip is 3mm by 3mm, and is implanted into the eyeball of sufferers
The Six Million Dollar Man: A similar 'bionic' technology was used to restore sight to the blind, and the first group of British patients to receive the electronic microchips were regaining 'useful vision' just weeks after undergoing surgery
The Wiltshire man can now recognise shapes after becoming the first British patient to be fitted with the digital chip
Robin Millar from London, one of two men to undergo cutting edge bionic eye treatment
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The microchip has 1,500 light sensitive pixels which take over the function of the retina’s photoreceptor rods and cones.
One of the first tests was making out a white plate and cup on a black background.
Mr James, who works for Swindon Council, said: ‘It took a while for my brain to adjust to what was in front of me, but I was able to detect the curves and outline of these objects.’
Tim Jackson, a consultant retinal surgeon at King’s College Hospital and Robert MacLaren, a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Oxford and a consultant retinal surgeon at the Oxford Eye Hospital, who are running the trial, say it has ‘exceeded expectations’ with patients already regaining ‘useful vision’.
The first group of British patients to receive the electronic microchips were regaining ¿useful vision¿ just weeks after undergoing surgery
The company hopes for a further trial with ten new patients later this year
Ten more Britons with RP will be fitted with the implants, which are also being tested in Germany and China. The device, made by Retina Implant AG of Germany, connects to a wireless power supply buried behind the ear. This is connected to an external battery unit via a magnetic disc on the scalp. The user can alter the sensitivity of the device using switches on the unit.
Mr Jackson said: ‘It’s difficult to say how much benefit each patient will get, this pioneering treatment is at an early stage.
‘But it’s an exciting and important step forward. Many of those who receive this treatment have lost their vision for many years. The impact of them seeing again, even if it is not normal vision, can be profound and at times quite moving.’ Mr Millar, 60, who was behind Sade’s Diamond Life album, has been blind for 25 years. He said: ‘Since switching on the device I am able to detect light and distinguish the outlines of objects.
‘I have even dreamt in very vivid colour for the first time in 25 years so a part of my brain which had gone to sleep has woken up! I feel this is incredibly promising and I’m happy to be contributing to this legacy.’
The patients were able to detect light immediately after the microchip was activated, while further testing revealed there were also able to locate white objects on a dark background, Retina Implant said
The chip pairs with an external device to process images
Chris James from Wiltshire, said: 'I've always had that thought that one day I would be able to see again.'
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Yay Chris I am sooooo happy for you! Maybe in the future you will have perfect vision again. I hope so.
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We can already help some of the deaf to hear, now we can help some of the blind to see. Surely soon medical science will allow Thusha Kamaleswaren and those like her to walk and dance again. I hope so.
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Its certainly the beginning of something amazing. The future holds a perfect solution. I can't help but wonder the trouble he'll have searching for replacement batteries when it goes dead though!
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SCIENTISTS RULE.... yet they are still mocked in society, and given lower status than footballers and "celebrities" who get drunk every weekend. - Jeff, London, 3/5/2012 14:08 Only climate scientists are mocked and rightly so, the filthy lies and dodgey data warrants nothing but ridicule and derision. Amazing story, we really do have some of the best brains on the planet!.... did u read the article the germans invented it. you brits try to claim everything.
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A wonderful development, my mother has RP and it runs in families, I know at 95 she sadly will not get the chance to see again but should younger members of the family develop it at least there might be some hope for them.
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What a great out come. Still alot off work to be done to get him back to full site. He my still be registered blind for life but still see some things. Great news for both families.
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Excellent use of technology! Sounds like a direct analogy to cochlear implants. If the analogy holds true, the brain should gradually improve the vision as it re-learns how to use visual inputs.
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Stem cell therapy to grow new replacement tissue such as eyes from the patients own stem cells should be a priority and this will be better than artificial implants in the long term.
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As an NHS nurse, I can say this is a very early outcome. Never mind the DM headlines ,there is a lot of work to be done.
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SCIENTISTS RULE.... yet they are still mocked in society, and given lower status than footballers and "celebrities" who get drunk every weekend. - Jeff, London, 3/5/2012 14:08 Only climate scientists are mocked and rightly so, the filthy lies and dodgey data warrants nothing but ridicule and derision. Amazing story, we really do have some of the best brains on the planet!
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