Florida man enjoys ‘bionic eye’ retinal implant

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Doctors once told Walfre Lopez they could not keep his vision from fading away due to a degenerative eye disease. A revolutionary artificial-vision procedure recently done at University of Florida Health has restored sight to the 46-year-old man who has not seen his children and wife for some 20 years.

Early this year, Lopez got what he calls a “bionic eye” — a microelectrode array implanted in the retina, according to UF.

“I put the glasses on and I saw her standing in front of me,” he said of his 12-year-old daughter. “I got very excited. I saw her shape and the outline of her face. It was so special to see her for the first time.”

The electrode takes over the function of damaged retinal cells, sending signals to a special pair of glasses that allows Lopez to see shapes and contrasting images. Lopez is the first patient to receive the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System at UF Health.

Syed Gibran Khurshid, M.D., is the first retina surgeon at UF Health to have expertise in this area.

Lopez lost his sight to retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic disorder that destroys light-sensitive cells in the back of the eye. It affects about one in 4,000 people worldwide, according to the National Institutes of Health’s National Eye Institute.

“He has been living in a dark, black cave for almost all of his life,” Khurshid said of his patient. “Now, he’s able to see and navigate around. It’s a 180-degree turn in his life.”

UF Health News contributed to this story.