Pioneering bionic eyes are being given to 10 blind people

Ten blind people in the UK are set to be given "bionic eyes" for free by the National Health Service (NHS) as part of a pioneering treatment program. The Argus II Bionic Eye, made by the company Second Sight, could mean a whole new world of vision for people previously blind through an inherited degenerative disease called retinitis pigmentosa -- and potentially pave the way for the technology to enter the mainstream. The eyes are essentially retinal implants which translate images from a tiny video camera within a pair of eyeglasses worn by the patient into electrical pulses and eventually signals that reach the brain. Electrodes attached to the retina stimulate its remaining cells, which send information on to the brain. A total of 10 people, five patients at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital and five at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, will receive bionic eyes from the NHS throughout 2017, and they'll be monitored for a year to see how things move along. Earlier trials have been pretty successful.