[New York Post] A bionic eye could give sight to millions in just five years, experts say.The world’s first 3D artificial eyeball is capable of sharper vision than a real human eye.
Images are converted through tiny sensors that mirror the light-detecting photoreceptor cells.
The sensors are packed into a membrane of aluminium and tungsten shaped into a half sphere, mimicking a retina. The electrochemical eye, name EC-EYE, resembles sinister super computer HAL in 1968 sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Prof Zhiyong Fan, of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said animal and clinical trials were now planned.
He said: "Our ’biomimetic’ eye has a size comparable to a human eye — a bit more than two cm in diameter. "It can be used for visual prosthesis to help the blind or those visually impaired. It can lead to a bionic eye."
"We hope to further improve our device in terms of biocompatibility, stability, and performance. "I think if everything is on track, perhaps in five years the technology will become practical."