Multimedia Victoria - One Step Closer to World's First Bionic Eye

One Step Closer to World's First Bionic Eye


Media release - 13 November 2008

Australians suffering from severe vision impairment are one step closer to benefiting from a new state-of-the-art treatment, with the announcement in Melbourne today of a new national partnership to develop a bionic eye.

Acting Information and Communication Technology Minister Gavin Jennings congratulated those involved on the announcement of Bionic Vision Australia and said a Brumby Government grant of $60,000 was provided to help set up the partnership.

"The Brumby Government is taking action to develop Victorian ICT so we remain at the forefront of the industry," Mr Jennings said.

"We welcome the launch of Bionic Vision Australia, bringing together some of Australia's world-class research organisations to accelerate research into the development of the bionic eye.

"This partnership combines the broad range of skills and disciplines necessary to develop a functional retinal prosthesis or bionic eye that can deliver improvement in sight to Australians with degenerative or inherited retinal diseases.

Mr Jennings said Victoria had a proven track record of leadership in innovation and medical research, with many Australians having benefited from the cochlear implant or bionic ear, which was developed in Victoria.

"A bionic eye will hopefully improve the lives of people with vision-impairment in the same way that the bionic ear has for people with hearing-impairment," he said.

"With five per cent of Australians, around 400,000 people, suffering from some form of vision impairment, eye disease is a major health issue for the community."

Bionic Vision Australia has set itself the goal of developing a high resolution bionic eye implant capable of restoring reading vision to people suffering from degenerative retinal conditions that account for 48 per cent of all blindness in Australia.

The partnership is between the University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales, the Victoria Research Laboratory of National ICT Australia and Melbourne's Bionic Ear Institute and Centre for Eye Research Australia.

This investment builds on the Brumby Government's injection of more than $1 billion into Victoria's innovation and technology programs, through initiatives announced in Innovation: Victoria's Future and other programs.

Victoria's ICT industry generates $24.4 billion in annual revenue, exports over $1.8 billion and employs more than 84,000 people. Since 1999, the Victorian Government has facilitated more than $1.7 billion in ICT investment leading to the creation of more than 12,000 jobs.