Researchers say we could see the emergence of a successful Australian bionic eye by the year 2014.

Experts from Australia’s ICT Research Centre of Excellence, National ICT Australia (NICTA) have showcased a prototype of the 98 electrode eye's processing system at the CeBit Exhibition.

Senior Research Engineer Dr Paulette Lieby revealed that NICTA aim to have successful implantation by the year 2014.

“Our commitment is that in four years time it will have passed the stages of acute trials and we hope to have successful chronic implantees using the 98 electrode device,” she said.

The processing device comprises a small camera mounted on a pair of specially designed glasses which transforms high resolution images into a set of stimulation signals on a bionic retinal implant.

People most likely to receive the eye are those with conditions like age-related macular degeneration (AMD) who have very limited vision but are not completely blind.

“We hope to provide a reliable device that will be able to assist in things like obstacle avoidance.

For people who are currently working with guide dogs or canes, there are some problems like overhanging obstacles which are currently very difficult to handle.” Dr Lieby said.

She has high hopes that the bionic eye will offer tangible benefits for the visually impaired in the future.

“If we can achieve with the bionic eye the same success that hearing aids have had for hearing impaired people I think then we will have done our job but it is much, much harder to do,” she said.

NICTA’s vision program is a collaborative effort and is comprised of experts from universities and technological institutes from all over Australia. NICTA’s initiatives are also partly funded by the Federal Government.

Source:  news