Watch CBS News

Health: Local Woman Regains Sight With Help Of Bionic Eye

By Stephanie Stahl

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A Philadelphia woman is seeing the wonders of the holiday season for the first time in a long time. She's the first in our area to have a bionic eye, a breakthrough that's allowing blind people to see.

Fran Fulton is seeing Philadelphia's Christmas village for the first time with her grandchildren.  She has retinitis pigmentosa, R.P.  It gradually robbed her vision.  Now Fran is among the first in the country to have a new bionic eye. She says, "It's wonderful to feel a part of the world again."

Her vision is limited and fuzzy, so she still  uses a cane to be safe.  But she can see her grandchildren for the first time and many holiday sights.  "It truly is a feeling of freedom and a feeling of wonderment," Fran said.

Fran's new vision starts with a camera that's in the dark glasses she wears. They're equipped with a video processor that's attached to a controller.  The images are transmitted wirelessly to a chip implanted in the eye. Dr. Allen Ho at Wills Eye Hospital who performed the surgery explains, "The chip implant is serving as a way to bypass the vision cells that have been lost."  Dr. Ho says right now the bionic eye is only available to patients with R.P.,  but they hoping to someday make it available to patients with other forms of blindness.  Dr. Ho says, "It's really a marriage of technology, micro-electronics, wireless technology, Bluetooth wireless communication and tissue."

Fran says, "I just don't know how anybody figured this out. Its beyond my conception and I love it."

Fran had the surgery, the first in Philadelphia in July.  It's taken months of therapy for her to get used to seeing with the new technology.

http://www.willseye.org/news-releases

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.