Rozina_Issani

I can see shapes mostly, but I can also see faces, without much detail of course. I can see headlights of cars at night, the white lines when I'm crossing the road. I actually saw the big full moon the other day. I can also now see the subway doors opening and closing so that's a big help. And once I'm on the train I can see empty seats so I don't sit on anyone anymore haha.

When I turned on the device for the first time I was very surprised because it was not how I'd anticipated I would see. Before the device, I couldn't imagine what 'artificial sight' would entail. I had expected it would be more like the sight a sighted person has; like the ability to see fine details and colours. Once I turned on the bionic eye device, I discovered that it wasn't as profound as maybe I had envisioned, but the differences it did make still blew me away! After 30 years with no vision at all, I could actually see the lights in my office, and the shape of people around me. I felt like an excited child who had just discovered something totally new.

1. Once you have the device implanted and have had three to four weeks of recuperating from the surgery, you're given some training and then sent home with some rehabilitation exercises. These exercises involved a lot of visual matching of shapes; matching circle to circle, square to square, etc. Also, at night there is an exercise where someone will shine a flashlight and I have to point out the direction of where I see the light land. I've actually found the adapation, overall, to be pretty easy so far, because I dedicate a couple of hours every day to practice. It does require a lot of patience though, because you're really going back to basics (like childhood when you're learning shapes, etc).

2. I have no headaches, and I cannot feel the microchip in my eye or anything. The procedure did result in some raised pressure in my eye, but I cannot feel it, and it's under control now. So nothing major :)

3. I'm one of a handful of people involved in a observational trial of this technology; the first in Canada. This trial is funded by The Foundation Fighting Blindness (Canada), the University Health Network in Toronto, and Toronto General and Western Hospital Foundation, to learn more about how effective this technology is. (Mary: As a rule, you should not pay to participate in a clinical trial).

Before I received the bionic eye I could not see anything at all. But with the technology I can now see that the world in moving shapes and shades of light. When I first turned on the device I was amazed because I could actually see the doctor moving around me. It was incredible!

So first, I should explain how the device works. First, a microchip is surgically implanted into the retina of the eye and held in place by a tiny 'tack'. That's the internal part of the 'bionic eye'. Second, I was equipped with a pair of glasses that has a tiny camera mounted on the bridge. From the glasses, a wire runs down to my waist to a small, battery-powered computer transmitter. The camera, since it's mounted to see what's in front of me, transmits the images it captures to the computer which converts it into electrical pulses that are sent wirelessly to the microchip in my eye. The microchip communicates these pulses to the remaining cells of my retina, which then go to my brain.

In terms of upgrading the technology, I'm told that there will be future upgrades to the computer technology, as well as the camera. But the microchip, that's there to stay.