World’s first bionic eye one step closer
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13 November 2008
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A new national partnership – Bionic Vision Australia - was announced in Melbourne today, bringing the development of the world’s first bionic eye one step closer.
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Bionic Vision Australia brings together some of Australia’s world-class research organisations to accelerate research into the development of the bionic eye, including the University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales, the Victoria Research Laboratory of National ICT Australia and Melbourne’s Bionic Ear Institute and Centre for Eye Research Australia.
Bionic Vision Australia has set itself the goal of developing a high-resolution bionic eye implant capable of restoring reading vision to people suffering from degenerative retinal conditions that account for 48 per cent of all blindness in Australia.
The partnership has been welcomed by the Victorian Government, who provided $60,000 funding to assist in its inception.
“This partnership combines the broad range of skills and disciplines necessary to develop a functional retinal prosthesis or bionic eye that can deliver improvement in sight to people with degenerative or inherited retinal diseases,” Acting Information and Communication Technology Minister Gavin Jennings said.
Mr Jennings said Victoria had a proven track record of leadership in innovation and medical research, with many Australians having benefited from the cochlear implant or bionic ear, which was developed in Victoria.
“A bionic eye will hopefully improve the lives of people with vision-impairment in the same way that the bionic ear has for people with hearing-impairment,” he said.
“With 5 per cent of Australians, around 400,000 people, suffering from some form of vision impairment, eye disease is a major health issue for the community.”
This investment builds on the Victorian Government’s injection of more than $1 billion into Victoria’s innovation and technology programs, through initiatives announced in Innovation: Victoria’s Future and related programs.
Victoria’s ICT industry generates $24.4 billion in annual revenue, exports over $1.8 billion and employs more than 84,000 people. Since 1999, the Victorian Government has facilitated more than $1.7 billion in ICT investment leading to the creation of more than 12,000 jobs.
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