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- From: "Chip Orange" <Corange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2010 15:02:35 -0400
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/fda-approves-procedure-inserts-telescope-eye-gi
ving-suffering/story?id=11121305
ABC News
Bionic Sight: FDA OKs Telescope Eye Implant
Pea-sized Telescope Gives Hope to Millions Suffering from Macular
Degeneration
BY LINSEY DAVIS, SUSAN SCHWARTZ, AYANA HARRY And JESSICA HOPPER
July 8, 2010-
Seven years ago, life changed for Ed Nungesser in the twinkling of an
eye after his
wife told him about a report she saw on
World News
.
The report was about doctors testing a new technology to implant
tiny telescopes
into people's eyes as a way to improve eyesight.
Nungesser had been legally blind for years. He suffers from
macular degeneration
.
Macular Degeneration
The disease is one of the leading causes of blindness in older adults,
attacking
one's central vision. It stops sufferers from reading, watching TV and,
at its worst,
being able to recognize other people's faces.
"As far as I was concerned they could have taken my eye out anyway
because I couldn't
see anything," Nungesser said.
Experimental Procedure
Two months after seeing the report on
ABC News
, Nungesser signed up to be part of a trial group for the new
technology. He had
a tiny telescope inserted into his eye and doctors were able to restore
his eyesight.
His young granddaughter, Faith, was the first thing he saw.
"I could see her face," Nungesser said. "That's when I knew this is
definitely going
to work."
To learn more about this new technology, click
HERE
to visit CentraSight's website. A Fraction Of the Size of A Penny
What seemed like magic is really science at its best -- an implantable
miniature
telescope, a fraction of the size of a penny, tucked inside your eye.
"It absolutely functions as a telescope," said Kathryn Colby, MD, of
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
. "It has two wide-angle, high-power lenses. They are just very, very
small."
Doctors surgically insert the telescope into one eye to provide better
central vision.
The other eye is left alone to provide peripheral vision. The human
brain fuses the
two different viewpoints into one single image.
FDA OKs Tiny Telescope Implanted In Eye
U.S. health officials recently approved this first-of-its-kind
technology.The
FDA
cautions that the surgery won't help all of the 2 million Americans who
suffer from
macular degeneration. It's only helpful for those 75 years or older who
have a certain
degree of vision loss and who also need a cataract removed.
The surgery won't restore vision to 20/20 strength but for Nungesser,
it's given
him the ability to do the simple things he couldn't do before, like use
a cutting
board and knife to prepare a meal or read to his granddaughter.
Telescopes have been used since the days of Galileo to bring the heavens
close, but
in Nungesser's case that vision comes complete with an angel, his
granddaughter Faith.
Copyright (c) 2010 ABC News Internet Ventures
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