Tiny 'telescopes' implanted into the eyes can restore sight in those with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), scientists say.
AMD is an eye condition that leads to the deterioration of the centre of the retina, called the macula, leading to loss of central vision.
While there is no cure for the condition, the eye implant is designed to improve functional capabilities like recognising facial detail, reading signs and allowing patients to see where they are going.
The procedure to fit the 'telescope' in the eye takes a little more than an hour, and once the patient has the implant, the telescope magnifies the images a patient sees and projects them.
"This is a telescopic implant - a very tiny telescope that is implanted in the eye when the lens is removed. This takes the place of the individual's own lens and remains in the eye permanently," Dr Sid Mandelbaum, an ophthalmologist at East Side Eye Surgeons in New York City, told Fox News.
"The eye is kind of like the video camera that sends the image to the brain," said Mandelbaum.
"The brain is the central processor that integrates everything, and so we are retraining our brain to learn to use this vision that's a little bit different than the vision that we have used all of our lives up until this point," he said.
The US Food and Drug Administration-approved implant does not restore patients' sight to the level it was before they developed AMD, doctors cautioned.
Also, it's not the kind of vision that would allow a patient suffering with AMD to drive again, they said.
To qualify for the procedure, patients need to be at least 75 years old, have end-stage macular degeneration in both eyes, and have at least one eye that has not undergone cataract surgery.
