Grandmother, 88, excited to 'see grandchildren again' after UK's first bionic eye implant

ITV News Science Editor Deborah Cohen reports on what it means for the 88-year-old grandmother, who is almost blind in her left eye, to receive a bionic eye, in a UK first

The UK's first patient to receive a bionic eye, an 88-year-old grandmother who is almost blind in her left eye, said she "will be able to see my grandchildren again".

ITV News was given exclusive access to London's Moorfields Eye Hospital to watch the patient - dubbed "Bionic Nana" by her grandchildren - undergo the surgery and watch her see through her bionic eye for the first time.

The eye chip works in conjunction with special glasses that allow the patient to receive signals in their eye and the grandmother was the first person in the UK to receive the device as part of a Europe-wide clinical trial in Phase 3.

ITV News was given exclusive access to watch the moment the 'Bionic Nana's' eye chip was 'switched on' for the first time and go through a series of tests

The patient, whose name cannot be shared due to regulations, suffers from geographic atrophy - a form of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) - which causes a blind spot to develop in the middle of the eye.

AMD is the most common cause of blindness in the world with the condition affecting more than an estimated five million people worldwide - but there is currently no treatment. Medics say the "groundbreaking" device offers the hope of partially restored vision for people suffering with the disease.

Speaking after her first set of eye tests on January 19, more than a month after the surgery, the patient told ITV News the device will "make a big difference" to her life and give back her independence.

'When I look in the mirror I’m going to get a shock!'

“I’ll be able to see my grandchildren," said the patient, who has seven children and eight grandchildren.

“When I look in the mirror I’m going to get a shock!

“And I’ll be able to go out more because I haven’t been going out all that much," she added.

The grandma, from Dagenham, London, underwent the procedure on December 1, 2021, which involved surgically inserting a 2mm wide microchip under the centre of her retina.

She will now wear special glasses, containing a video camera that is linked to a small computer attached to her waistband.

Mahi Muqit, consultant vitreoretinal surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital, sets out how the surgery was conducted

How does the bionic chip work?

The chip captures the video provided by the glasses, and in turn transmits this to the computer, which uses artificial intelligence algorithms to process this information and guide the focus of the glasses.

Finally, the glasses project this image as an infrared beam back through the eye to the chip, which transforms this into an electrical signal that travels back through the retina cells and into the brain.

The brain then interprets this signal as if it were natural vision. This will last for three years.

Mahi Muqit, consultant vitreoretinal surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital, said it was "amazing" to see his patient respond so well to the surgery.

Dr Muqit explains how the device will work and how 'Bionic Nana' has been getting on

“Finally offering this to UK patients has been the ultimate goal and having this patient come through the system last year really opens things up for more patients,” he told ITV News.

He said studies across Europe with patients who have already received the procedure are showing it has the potential to be a “game changer”.

He hailed it as a “new era” of retinal implants and bionic retinal implants and expects vision outcomes to be better, while the operation is much faster and can be performed by many surgeons.

The so-called Bionic Nana said she hopes that by taking part in the trial it will pave the way for more people to restore some of their vision and thanked her doctors.

She said: “When the doctor got in touch with us first and he said about this procedure, and I was eligible, I said well I have nothing to lose.

“If it works that’s fine and if it doesn’t then it’ll be good for the next person... Somebody younger than me might need it.”

The patient said she hopes by taking part in the trial it will help other younger people suffering with the eye disease

The patient, who’s a keen gardener, said hopefully she’ll be able “to see the plants again” and enjoy her hobbies of painting watercolours, creating birthday cards and playing jigsaw and cards with her family.

The research is supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology.

The Prima System device used in this operation was developed by Pixium Vision in France.

Dr Muqit said more UK patients have been recruited to take part in the study and he and his team are welcoming more to come forward.