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Wife is the apple of his bionic eye

Mr Zderad 'sees' his wife for the first time in ten years. Photo: The Mayo Clinic via Twitter

This bionic man's new life is more about romance than crimefighting.

Minnesota grandfather Allen Zderad was given a bionic eye implant by doctors at the Mayo Clinic and was able to see his wife for the first time in decades.

The Mayo Clinic reports that Mr Zderad started to have vision problems caused by retinitis pigmentosa 20 years ago.

The degenerative eye disease ended his working life and left him unable to see anything except a bright light.

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Researcher and ophthalmologist Dr Raymond Iezzi found Mr Zderad to be an ideal patient for the bionic eye implant which sent light wave signals to the optic nerve, bypassing the damaged retina.

"A tiny wafer-like chip was embedded in his right eye, wires attached in a surgical procedure in January, then two weeks later, the rest of the prosthetic device set in glasses was activated," the Mayo website said.

"For the first time in a decade, Zderad was able to make out human forms and outlines of objects, doorframes, chairs and tables, - he even saw his reflection as a silhouette in a window.

"The first indication that the device worked: He lunged out to grab his wife’s hands as she sat before him. The both broke into tears."

For Mr Zderad, the vision of his wife was the apple of his eye.

“It’s easy,” says Zderad, “she’s the most beautiful one in the room.”

Mr Zderad was also finally able to see his 10 grandchildren.

The therapy is limited. It does not allow the patient to see the detail in faces or images but does allow the patient to move around unaided and greatly improves their quality of life.

News break – February 24