StemCell Therapy

MEDFORD (CBS) After 20 years of darkness, there is light.

It seems like science fiction, but a bionic eye implant is bringing a kind of sight to the blind.

Its not what you and I see, but for a small number of people, its making all the difference.

Its not actual vision. Its what they call artificial vision, says Anthony Andreotolla,one of the first people to ever receive a bionic eye.

Every day he puts on his gear, leaves his Medford home and rides the MBTA to his job in Downtown Crossing.

Anthony Andreotolla wearing bionic eye (WBZ-TV)

Andreotolla has retinitis pigmentosa. He began to lose his vision in his teens. By his 30s he couldnt see a thing.

Once everything is black, for many, many years, that was it, he said.

For 20 years he lived in that blackness until he became one of the first to receive a bionic eye.

How does it work?

A tiny camera in his glasses sends images to a wearable computer. The images are processed and sent wirelessly to an implant in his eye.

Anthony Andreotolla wearing bionic eye (WBZ-TV)

I dont see things the way other people do. I see everything in different flashes, lights, shapes, Andreotolla explained.

Its more of a cloudy, black and white vision.

I can tell the difference between a car or a bus or a truck. I cant tell you what make the car is, he said.

That vision helps him navigate life more safely.

And after his journey, he arrives at his job as a substance abuse counselor at St. Anthonys Shrine.

I have my hope back. Once I lost my sight I was resigned to be blind for the rest of my life. Im not resigned to that anymore. I believe if I can live long enough, Ill be able to see a lot of beautiful things, Andreotolla said.

The developer of the bionic eye is Second Sight, and theyre already working on the next generation with faster processing and sharper images. Andreotolla had to go to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore for his surgery, but it will be available soon at at least one Boston hospital.

Follow Paula on Twitter Award-winning journalist Paula Ebben co-anchors WBZ-TV News at 5:30PM and WBZ-TV 8PM News on myTV38 with co-anchor Liam Martin. Ebben also reports across WBZ-TVs newscasts including WBZ-TV News Eye on Educatio...

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Medford Man Receives Bionic Eye - CBS Boston / WBZ

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