Man Receives Surgical Implantation of 'Bionic Eye'

Thanks to a "bionic eye," 55-year-old Roger Pontz is seeing again. The Reed City, Mich., resident had lost most of his vision as a teenager to retinitis pigmentosa. This group of inherited diseases that refer to retinal degeneration cause a gradual decline in the photoreceptor cells responsible for vision. For Pontz, he had almost been completely blind for years. Yet with this surgical procedure that placed an artificial implant in his left eye, he has regained enough eyesight to catch small glimpses of everyday life.

"It's awesome. It's exciting -- seeing something new every day," Pontz said during a recent appointment at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center, via The Seattle Times.

Pontz is the fourth to receive an artificial retina in the United States. The facility in Ann Arbor has performed all such surgeries since the FDA's approval, and is expected to perform a fifth next month.

While this medical advance comes as great news for the estimated 100,000 affected by retinitis pigmentosa disorders in the United States alone, researchers note that not all will benefit from the implantation.

According to Dr. Brian Mech, an executive with Second Sight Medical Products Inc., a Sylmar, Calif.-based company that creates the device, of the 10,000 with vision low enough for the implantation, only around 7,500 will qualify.

The device includes a small video camera and transmitter housed in a pair of glasses. Through a series of electrical impulses transmitted to the surface of the retina wirelessly, this stimulates any healthy cells remaining on the retina. The optic nerve is signaled, sending visual stimulation to the brain and translating recognized patterns of light and movement.

For those interested in the procedure, candidates must be at least 25 years old with end-stage retinitis pigmentosa.

Though it's still early days for Pontz, he's simply astonished by his new sight, according to NPR. "I said something I never thought I'd say: 'Stop staring at me while I'm eating.'"