A mother living in the Denver, Colorado area who has been blind for more than two decades recently started to tear up after using her new bionic eye to see her son for the first time in several years. The ocular device was switched on a month after the she received an eye implant surgery on November 2. The Colorado woman suffers from a disease that causes the retina's cells to die slowly.
51-year-old Jamie Carley received the bionic eye at the University of Colorado Hospital's UC Health Eye Center. She had to wait one month after the operation until she could turn on the device.
Carley's condition is called retinitis pigmentosa (RP). She had no night vision during her entire life, and her day vision slowly worsened until she became completely blind by age 26 or so. Her son was only a toddler then.
Ophthalmologist Dr. Naresh Mandava was Carley's surgeon. He added the $150,000 Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System into Carley's eye, which allows her to see objects' outlines and differentiate light and ark.
The operation was Colorado's first bionic eye transplant, according to The Denver Post. It was completed in five hours.
Carley wears a camera-installed pair of glasses that is linked to the device through a wireless connection. The camera detects images that are transmitted to the bionic eye, which transfer the image to the brain via a microchip that functions like an optic nerve.
UC Heath reported that Carley's vision will improve during the next months. Her brain will get better at processing the new optical signals it gets, according to ABC News.
The university will monitor Carley's progress for the next five years. It will submit reports of her visual progress to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Carley is excited about having the ability to see everyday objects such as cars and sidewalks. It "amazes" her.
Here are some more details about the Argus II bionic eye: