Two Research Teams to Share $50 Million for Bionic Eye Research. (December 15, 2009)

The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, has announced that two research teams will share in four year funding of $50 million to further development of a bionic eye.

The major grant of $42 million, is to be shared by the Universities of Melbourne, New South Wales, Western Sydney and ANU together with collaborators which include National ICT Australia, the Bionic Ear Institution and the Centre for Eye Research Australia.

A second grant of $8 million is to go to Monash University and the Alfred Hospital. 

In announcing the awards Senator Carr said the first group will utilise a technology that implants a device in the retina to enable vision for patients suffering from degenerative retinal conditions while the second team aims to develop a device that is implanted directly in the brains visual cortex.