[bbfan1991]

A bionic eye, developed to help people recover partial sight, will be made available in America.

Second Sight Medical Products, based in California, is behind the ambitious Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System. Around 60 people in Europe have already benefited from the bionic eye.

Second Sight also tested on 30 clinical trial participants who were fully blind.

"We had some patients who got just a little bit of benefit and others who could do amazing things like reading newspaper headlines," company exec Brian Mech told AFP. "In some cases, the subjects could even see in colour.

"Mostly, they see in black and white, but we have demonstrated more recently we can produce colour vision as well."

The bionic eye contains 60 electrodes in the retina. A small camera is also installed in a pair of glasses.

The Argus II should particularly help sufferers of the genetic disease retinitis pigmentosa, who struggle with sight as a result of degrading photoreceptors in the retina. Photoreceptors help the brain read light by converting it into electrochemical impulses.

Mech explained: "The way the prosthesis works [is] it replaces the function of the photoreceptors."

In some European countries, the Argus II costs 73,000 euros (£61,800 / $97,500). Although a price for the US has yet to be announced, Mech believes it would likely be higher.