Retinal implant is 'first step on long journey'

Surgeons in Oxford were the first in the UK to implant an electronic retina in the eye when a patient received the surgery as part of a clinical trial.

The operation was carried out in late March at the Oxford Eye Hospital by Professor Robert MacLaren, assisted by consultant ophthalmic surgeon Tim Jackson from King's College Hospital, London. This was followed a week later by an operation on a second patient who had lost their sight through retinitis pigmentosa (RP), at King's, with Professor MacLaren assisting Jackson.

Both patients could detect light after the electronic retinas were switched on, and were now beginning to experience some restoration of useful vision, said the surgical team. Operations are planned on another 10 patients at both sites.