A bionic eye has allowed a blind patient to see well enough to sort his socks and work the washing machine.

Bionic eye lets the blind see
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Ron, 73, is one of just three patients in the UK to be fitted with a bionic eye and after 30 years of being completely blind he can now see well enough to do the laundry.

The operation was carried out at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London seven months ago and Ron's sight has steadily improved since then.

He lost his sight in his 40s after suffering from a disease called retinitis pigmentosa but now thanks to the operations he is regaining some of his independence.

Ron, who has asked for his surname not to be disclosed, can now follow road markings, see flashes of coloured light and make out shades of grey.

Speaking to the BBC Inside Out programme, to be aired on Wednesday at 7.30pm, Ron said: "They said let there be light and there was light. For 30 years I've seen absolutely nothing at all. Its all been black but now light is coming through.

"It gives me grades of bright light to black and anything in between. I can actually sort out white socks, grey socks and black socks.

"It is a great privilege and an honour I think to be able to take part in an experiment such as this, hoping that the outcome is going to be able to bring sight to people like myself who are completely blind."

His wife Tracy said his increasing independence is a great help."

Gene therapy aimed at restoring sight for 30,000 people with Leber's congenital amaurosis.

Gene therapy aimed at restoring sight for 30,000 people - Guardian

Extract:

"British scientists are to launch the world's first clinical trials of a controversial gene therapy to cure childhood blindness.

Researchers will test the treatment on volunteers with a rare inherited form of blindness, in which a single defective gene causes the retina to degenerate and eventually stop working as the child grows up.

The condition, called Leber's congenital amaurosis, affects one in 80,000 in Britain. Children born with the defective gene are often completely blind by their 20s. If the trials are a success, it could revolutionise the treatment of more than 100 inherited forms of blindness that affect up to 30,000 people in Britain.

Patients taking part in the trial will be injected with a virus modified to carry a correct version of the faulty gene.

Once inside the eye, the virus ferries the healthy gene into the cells that make up the retina, halting and even reversing the damage caused.

The phase 1 trials are designed to assess the safety and efficacy of the treatment in 12 patients and will be carried out by the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London and nearby Moorfields Eye Hospital. The safety of the treatment will be under particular scrutiny, following a gene therapy trial four years ago in which two children being treated for a rare immune disorder called Scid (severe combined immunodeficiency) developed leukaemia. Their cancers arose when a virus used to deliver healthy genes accidentally led to tumour-promoting genes."


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