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?
For this to happen, BVA needs a commercial partner – an entrepreneur – with the vision, passion and resources to bring the bionic eye to the clinic through the process of commercialisation.
In July 2014, Bionic Vision Australia appointed Dr Julia Hill to the role of Commercialisation Manager with the task of seeking potential investors for the bionic eye. Julia’s efforts in speaking with potential investors resulted in BVA placing second out of 137 submissions to the MedTech Innovator competition at the Emerging Medical Technologies Summit, on November 11th. The audience at this summit is comprised of entrepreneurs and potential investors. The ultimate prize would be to attract a commercial partner. View Bionic Vision Australia’s one-minute pitch video here.
This is only one of a number of avenues that BVA is currently exploring in Australia and abroad, in the search for angel investors, investors or a strategic partner, to develop the bionic eye further and bring it to patients with retinitis pigmentosa.
For the next four years, research will continue on the bionic eye through two new NHMRC project grants. The National Health and Medical Research Council has awarded Penelope Allen, vitreo-retinal surgeon, Centre for Eye Research Australia, $1.2 million over four years to test a more advanced 44-channel prototype bionic eye with more patients, bringing it into their own homes. This will build on the first 24-channel, prototype bionic eye tests in three patients that showed that the bionic eye is safe and stable and that wearers can see spots of light, known as 'phospenes', which can help them to orientate in their environment.
The team headed by Nigel Lovell at the University of New South Wales received $900,000 from the NHMRC over five years to continue work on the bionic eye stimulation strategy.
This funding will help bring the bionic eye closer to commercialisation to make it available to people with retinitis pigmentosa.
