Blind woman implanted into the eye of the telescope

89-year-old woman, who has lost almost entirely of seven years ago, is now again able to read and write. Ophthalmologists have set her a small telescope in the eye.

American Dorothy Bain is one of the millions of elderly people suffering from age-related macular degeneration   retinal. The disease started to progress for a long time, but seven years ago, she entered the final stage, and she almost lost the ability to see. This disease is generally one of the major causes of blindness in the world.

But in May this year the American Hospital surgeons from UC Davis Medical Center successfully implanted in the woman's eyes a tiny telescope. With it, the patient can once again focus on the vision intact retina. With age-related macular degeneration   before the eyes of a person having "blind spots" that over the years, expand and occupy the entire central review, leaving only peripheral vision.

Telescopic implants reduced visibility due to the projection of images on the part of the retina that has not yet been affected by the disease. This means that patients can once again see the faces of people and objects that are in front of them. However, after the surgery the patient must go through a training course to teach the brain to use the telescope installed. The implant is placed on only one eye.

During the training Dorothy learned to distinguish between objects and even read by the left eye, which put a unique device. Her right eye helps to focus on walking and far vision. The success of the operation could lead to the fact that the telescopic implants will soon come into wide practice ophthalmologists.

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