Australian bionic eye researchers fear a lack of funding will force them to drop one of the most promising research projects in their quest to restore vision to the blind.

By Bridie Smith, The Age, 23 November 2014

In the past five years, Bionic Vision Australia’s multidisciplinary teams of computer programmers, neurobiologists, surgeons, opthmologists, psychophysicists and functional vision specialists, as well as our three dedicated test participants, Dianne Ashworth, Murray Rowland and Maurice Skehan, have worked to develop a bionic eye that is safe and allows people to navigate in their environment. We’ve come a long way, but when will BVA’s bionic eye become available to people with retinitis pigmentosa?

Researchers and clinicians working on the bionic eye at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) have received a major funding boost thanks to a significant $1.2 million grant from the National Medical and Research Council (NHMRC).

The project will now move outside the lab and into the lives of patients with the aim of using the bionic eye to restore vision to patients who have become blind as the result of eye disease, particularly retinitis pigmentosa. 

Dr Dianne Ashworth has written a book relating her quite incredible life story as well as describing her experience of being involved in Bionic Vision Australia's prototype bionic eye study.

On 7 August, BVA researchers and Dianne Ashworth, recipient of the Bionic Vision Australia’s prototype bionic eye, answered questions on the bionic eye during a Reddit IamA session. Our thread with comments is now up on the Reddit IamA website. This was a great chance for us to answer some of your questions about bionic vision research and testing. 

 

The bionic eye prototype developed by BVA is now being trialled in tests that mimic real-world conditions. Using a system contained in a regular backpack, test participants Murray Rowland and Dianne Ashworth are mobile and teaching researchers how the bionic eye might be useful for real world tasks like identifying targets and avoiding obstacles.

 

2014 is going to be a big year in bionic vision research at BVA and we're already well under way. We will be extending our current patient study, testing a new version of our prototype with patients and continuing to develop our Wide-View and High-Acuity devices. Find out more about our research priorities for 2014.  

Dr Lauren Ayton, BVA's Clinical Research Coordinator at the Centre for Eye Research Australia, has been awarded the prestigious Hugh Rogers Fellowship to go to the Harvard Medical School to work with Professor of Ophthalmology Joseph Rizzo. 

Vision impaired soprano singer Pamela Reynolds is performing a charity concert on 31 October to raise money for the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA). CERA are an integral part of the Bionic Vision Australia project. 

 

Pamela recently volunteered for the Bionic Eye project, where she was helping to develop tests for people with very low vision. "It's so important to support the research. If my contribution helps one person, it will be worthwhile," said Pamela.