Dr. Campbell: Bionic eye implanted by Duke surgeons

RALEIGH, N.C. -

Retinitis Pigmentosa is a degenerative disease of the retina in the eye that can cause progressive blindness. It affects over 100,000 people in the U.S. alone.

In retinitis pigmentosa, the cells in the retina that are able to respond to light (called rods and cones) no longer function. Complete blindness can occur. There is no cure for the disorder but a new treatment has been developed that is returning limited sight to patients in the U.S.

Larry Hester, a Raleigh native, is the first person in the state to receive this new device.

It is particularly suitable for the device because while it causes blindness, it leaves key structures in the eyesuch as the optic nerveintact. The device can then use the body's own eye structure and connection to the brain to create images.

The $145,000 device, called the Argus II, was approved by the Federal Drug Administration early in 2013. Surgeons have implanted them in just six other people in the United States and a few dozen elsewhere in the world.

Technically, it's a retinal prosthesis system, but it's often called a bionic eye.

The device has three main parts: a glasses-mounted video camera, a portable computer, and a chip implanted near the retina.

A pair of glasses fitted with a camera is worn by the patient. The images from the camera are received by a transmitter on the glasses and then converted to a series of electrical impulses by the computer, which is worn on the belt. These impulses are then transmitted to an array of electrodes that are implanted on the patient's retina.

These electrodes essentially do the work of the light-sensing cells that have degenerated.

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Dr. Campbell: Bionic eye implanted by Duke surgeons