A blind Michigan man is getting an eyeful thanks to a new high-tech operation.
Roger Pontz, 55, who lost his vision from a degenerative eye disease he developed as a teenager, got a “bionic eye” surgically implanted, giving him a new way to see the world.
With the help of the artificial retina implant and a special pair of glasses outfitted with a small video camera and transmitter, Pontz can now make out abstract images of his family members for the first time in years.
“It’s awesome. It’s exciting – seeing something new every day,” the former competitive weightlifter and factory worker said.
The “bionic eye” works via a video camera that’s wirelessly connected to electrodes on the surface of the artificial retina. Those electrodes stimulate the eye’s healthy nerve fibers, allowing the brain to perceive light. Patients can then discern visual information and recover some lost vision.
Only four people, including Pontz, have received artificial retinas since the Food and Drug Administration approved the technology last year. All had the surgery performed at the University of Michigan’s Kellogg Eye Center.
Around 100,000 people suffer from retinitis pigmentosa, but only 10,000 have vision that’s depreciated enough to benefit from the surgery, said Dr. Brian Mech of Second Sight Medical Products, the company that created the implant.
Pontz and his wife, Terri, can’t believe his progress.
“I said something I never thought I’d say: ‘Stop staring at me while I’m eating,'” Terri said.
Though he’s regained some of his vision, Pontz is still learning new ways to sharpen his eyesight and detect color from an occupational therapist. For now, he’s just happy to be comfortably moving around his home again.
“I can walk through the house with ease,” he said. “If that’s all I get out of this, it’d be great.”