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Man gets bionic eye, sees wife for first time in over a decade

Posted at 12:36 PM, Feb 24, 2015
and last updated 2015-02-24 14:38:15-05

A Minnesota man who got a bionic eye implant just saw his wife for the first time in 10 years.

When Allen Zderad lost his sight, he never thought he would see his wife again.

He was forced to give up his career as a chemist when he developed a degenerative eye disease.

More than 20 years later, there is light at the end of the tunnel for the 68-year-old grandfather of 10, a bionic eye.

Doctors implanted 60 electrodes in Zderad’s eye, which receive a signal from a camera in his glasses.

That signal then goes straight to the optic nerve.

This week he tested out the implant and saw his wife for the first time in over a decade.

He can’t make out details yet but he can see shapes.

Zderad said it’s all he needs to find his wife.

“It’s easy,” Zderad told the Mayo Clinic. “She’s the most beautiful one in the room.”

MORE: Click here to get more information on the bionic eye from the Mayo Clinic