VIDEO: Bionic eye helps man see wife for first time in 10 years

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com @BednarChuck

A new bionic eye implant has made it possible for a 68-year-old Minnesota native suffering from a degenerative eye condition to see his wife for the first time in more than a decade.

Go ahead, try to keep a dry eye.

Retinitis pigmentosa

According to Mashable, Allen Zderad was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa nearly 20 years ago, and since then he had lost nearly all of his eyesight to the disease, which causes damage to the tissue at the back of the inner eye that converts light images to nerve signals.

There is no cure or effective treatment for retinitis pigmentosa, but thanks to a clinical trial of a new device built by Second Sight, Zderad has regained the ability to see shapes, make out human forms and even see his own reflection in a window, the website added in its report.

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Its crude, but its significant. It works, he said after seeing his wife for the first time following the implant, which the Mayo Clinic described as a tiny wafer-like chip that was embedded in his right eye and sends light wave signals to the optic nerve, bypassing the damaged retina.

Wires required for the bionic eyes operation were implanted in January, and two weeks later, the rest of the prosthetic device was surgically implanted. Though the device works, it still needs to be adjusted, and Zderad will have to undergo several hours of instruction and physical therapy in order to make full use of the instrument, according to the mans doctors.

Greatly improves quality of life

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VIDEO: Bionic eye helps man see wife for first time in 10 years