Implantation of a tiny telescope will be able to return the eyesight to the elderly.

89-year-old artist from California, Virginia Bane, was forced to quit painting due to partial loss of vision. The cause is age-related retinal degeneration. Surgeons from the University of California implanted a miniature telescope into the woman’s eye, thereby partially returning her eyesight.

- Now I see much better. The colors have become brighter and more natural, I can read a large font with the help of glasses. But the last seven years, I could not read. Now I wait, when I can return to drawing.
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Richard van Baskirk, an optometrist for the Society of Blind Sacramento, explained what was going on.

- Sight is returned thanks to the implant established in the left eye. This allows Virginia to see small details, read books, use the keyboard, and more. At the same time, her right eye provides peripheral vision - this is movement in space, for example. Ultimately, the brain processes the signals from two eyes and makes the necessary correction.



To date, 50 people have received such implants in the United States. Studies are conducted on persons over the age of 75 who have stable, incurable signs of age-related retinal degeneration. Only those who have the so-called “dry” degeneration are allowed to the procedure. There is an even less common type of disease - “wet degeneration”. Such patients are not allowed to the procedure because of the risk of edema.

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