Blind Medford Man Gets 'Bionic Eye'

MEDFORD, MA - A once-blind medford resident became one of the first people in the country to get a bionic eye implant, Wicked Local reported.

Anthony Andreottola, who suffers from a condition called retinitis pigmentosa, started losing his vision in his early 20s and was completely blind by the time he turned 35, according to Wicked Local.

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In October Andreottola, who is now 55, gained the ability to see the "shape and movement" of his daughters thanks to the groundbreaking medical technique, Wicked Local reported.

“I was wearing a black sweatshirt, walking by him, and he was like, ‘Walk by again,’” his daughter Gabrielle, 16, told Wicked Local. “He was like, ‘Are you wearing a black sweater?’ I was ecstatic. I was dancing around the living room — ‘Can you see this? Can you see that?’”

Doctors at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore implanted a fingernail-sized chip into Andreottola's retina and his life hasn't been the same since, Wicked Local reported.

Andreottol's vision is limited as he can only see five black-and-white images per second (people with healthy vision can see thousands) but medical researchers are working on an upgraded version of the chip that could allow him to see colors and considerably  more images per second, Wicked Local reported.

Photo via Flickr