Posted on 02/24/2015 9:06:13 AM PST by SeekAndFind
A Minnesota man saw his wife for the first time in 10 years— and most of his grandchildren for the first time ever— after receiving a bionic eye at the Mayo Clinic earlier this month, ValleyNewsLive.com reported.
Allen Zderad, 68, has retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative, genetic eye disease that affects the part of the retina that translates light into sight. The condition progressively stole the Forest Lake man’s vision over the course of his life. Zderad uses a cane to walk and has leaned on his wife, Carmen Zderad, as his sighted guide since losing his ability to see.
“Ten years,” Zderad told Valley News Live of the last time he saw his wife, “but I still kiss her with my eyes closed.”
Zderad is the 15th person to receive the “Second Sight Argus II” retinal prosthesis system, which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for implantation in January 2014. The technology reportedly took 25 years and an estimated $300 to $500 million to develop.
Implanting the bionic eye involves the insertion of 60 electrodes into the retina. Zderad’s surgery took about three hours and, two weeks later, he can now see with the artificial vision.
"It's a bionic eye— in every sense of the word. It's not a replacement for the eyeball, but it works with interacting with the eye, Rayond Iezzi, the Mayo Clinic retinal surgeon ophthalmologist who chose Zderad as the first Minnesotan to receive the bionic eye, told Valley News Live.
“Mankind has been seeking to cure blindness for 2,000 years or more,” Iezzi added, “but only in the past quarter of a century have we had the electronics and the packaging and all the other things come together to build a retinal prosthesis that could restore sight to the blind."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
When I came down to Dallas to help my dad (he was quite aged and needed medical assistance and seeing doctors) ... one of the things he just wasn’t taking care of was his eyes. He needed cataract surgery, and he wasn’t doing it. So, I got him in and both eyes were taken care of, one after the other.
AND THEN ... after they were done ... my dad said to me, “I didn’t know you looked like that!” ... he hadn’t even seen me clearly before that surgery ... :-) ...
Just noticed all 4 in the back are wearing glasses.
paging Giordi LaForge....
these “bionic” stories are always crap. he probably can’t see crap. it all depends how many electrodes they implanted, and it would take THOUSANDS AND THIOUSANDS to see anything really. Last i heard they had wotked up to maybe a hundrerd or two....
Wow, I'll be you're a lot of fun to hang out with.........
THIOUSANDS?
That is hugh!
Just getting cataracts removed was a biggie for me!
Then immediately asked to be blind again. ;)
After you do some reading about the Mayo Clinic you might change your mind.
no i won’t. i’ve been reading for 65 years. in that time you learn something about everything. howsabout you look up how many electrodes are in the “bionic eye”? and then come back and tell us all about it
yeah sorry to bring you to the truth, Howdy.
My dad had his cataracts done. He went from needing glasses for seeing everything, to only needing drugstore readers for reading.
And it was a relatively quick, outpatient procedure.
He was happy as a clam.
Sorry, but I don't consider you an arbiter of truth and information since you're just a keyboard internet junky with no medical experience......
Get back to us once you've attained a medical degree.........
I happen to hold a PhD in biophysics, Howdy, with a Masters in medical ethics
Howdy: With a big 60 electrodes he sees shapes, like maybe in the original game of Pong.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.