A FORMER Bungonia man may be responsible for restoring sight to many vision-impaired Australians.
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Professor Anthony Burkitt is heading up Bionic Vision Australia in Melbourne, which is a first for the world and was officially opened by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd this week.
Professor Burkitt grew up in Bungonia and attended Bungonia Public School, then Kings, then ANU, and the University of Edinburgh as well as studying in Germany and England.
The family property is Spring Ponds and his parents are Margaret and Neville Burkitt.
The Bionic eye prototype, which boasts 98 electrodes and wireless data transmission, operates by using a tiny video camera that is attached to the bridge of a pair of sunglasses.
The camera captures images, which are sent wirelessly to an implant attached to a patient's retina. Electrodes on the retina are then simulated, creating vision
There are hopes that the first human implant will be ready by 2013 at the Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital.
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