Indian-origin researcher's bionic eye may help restore basic vision to the blind

London, Aug 11 : People who are on the verge of losing their eyesight may now breathe a sigh of relief, for now an Indian-origin scientist and his colleague have developed a "cheap and safe" bionic eye that can restore basic vision in such individuals.

The path-breaking device, developed by Dr. Vivek Chowdhury and Professor Minas Coroneo, from Sydney, is ready to be implanted in trials.

By making use of the existing ground-breaking cochlear ear implant technology for the deaf, the device perceives light instead of sound.

The developers of the device claimed that the prosthesis would cost little more than the 10,000 pounds of a cochlear hearing device.

"We're using a bionic ear to make a bionic eye," the Mirror quoted Prof. Coroneo as saying.

For a clear vision, patients will be required to wear glasses mounted with a tiny camera, which will send images to electrodes in the eye.

Till date 40,000 pounds have been spent on the research, and the two scientists have urged the Australian Government for 4million pounds to begin clinical trials.

ANI