An Australian woman, who lost her vision due to retinitis pigmentosa, is now able to see spots of lights. All this has happened due to a procedure, which is said to be an early prototype of bionic eye.

Dianne Ashworth, 54, is the first person, who has become the first person to have bionic eye fitted. The surgery, which took place at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, fitted electrodes in the retina. These electrodes in return provided electrical impulses to eyes through nerve cells, which let Ashworth to see light.

The world’s first bionic eye prototype, which has been implanted in the eyes of Ashworth, was being developed at the Bionics Institute, East Melbourne. Study researchers were of the view that Ashworth’s experience with her new eyes will help them know about how brain reacts to the procedure.

Accordingly, they will work towards bionic eyes, which will help blind to have independent mobility. "The team is looking for consistency of shapes, brightness, size and location of flashes to determine how the brain interprets this information”, said Rob Shepherd, who is the director of Bionics Institute. Next aim will be to test electrical stimulations at various levels, further affirmed Shepherd.