After a decade without central vision, a British man regained sight through a bionic eye. The breakthrough was announced Tuesday, several weeks after Ray Flynn, 80, underwent surgery to place electrodes on the surface of his retina. An external camera captures images and transmits them into electric pulses that form visual patterns, which are then interpreted by the patient. Flynn suffers from macular degeneration, which destroys central vision but leaves peripheral vision intact. Dry-age related macular degeneration is the most common cause of blindness in the developed world.
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