For a measley $15K elder Boomers can now repair another symptom of aging; “macular degeneration, a disease that…is a leading cause of vision loss for people over 60″. CBC News has more:
Two versions of the implantable miniature telescope can replace the natural lens and provide an image that is magnified by 2.2 or 2.7 times, the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday.
The telescope magnifies and projects images onto a healthy portion of the retina, but can be used in one eye only; the other eye is needed for peripheral vision.
The telescope is intended for patients 75 and older with severe to profound vision impairment caused by blind spots, the FDA said. Because the brain must merge the views from two eyes into a single image, patients will need rehabilitation after the surgery to make it work, the FDA said.
A clinical test of the telescope involving 219 patients found that 75 per cent had their vision improve from severe or profound impairment to moderate impairment.
Due to the size of the device, implantation can cause other problems, including the need for a corneal transplant, the FDA warned.
Picture via Gizmodo. Thanks for the tip-off Prophesise!