First successful artificial eye
- Who
- Jeremiah Teehan
- What
- First
- Where
- Not Applicable
- When
- 17 January 2000
It was announced on 17 January 2000 that a patient named Jeremiah Teehan (USA), who lost his sight due to a blow to his head 36 years previously, could see again thanks to an artifical eye developed by William Dobelle (USA). Jeremiah became the second person to have received surgery of this kind, although the first to have had successful results.
Dobelle, chairman of the Dobelle Institute, New York, USA, has developed a pair of spectacles attached to a miniature camera and an ultrasonic rangefinder. They feed signals to a 10lb computer worn on the waistband, which processes the video and distance data. This processed information is then sent by another computer to 68 platinum electrodes implanted in Jerry's brain, on the surface of the visual cortex.
Jerry 'sees' a simple display of dots defining the outline of an object. Jerry's vision is equivalent to 20/400 - the same as a severly short-sighted person. Jerry is able to read two-inch letters at five feet, find a mannequin in a room, walk to a black stocking cap hanging on a white wall and then return to the mannequin and put the cap on its head.
Jerry 'sees' a simple display of dots defining the outline of an object. Jerry's vision is equivalent to 20/400 - the same as a severly short-sighted person. Jerry is able to read two-inch letters at five feet, find a mannequin in a room, walk to a black stocking cap hanging on a white wall and then return to the mannequin and put the cap on its head.