A British woman who received the world's most advanced “bionic eye” has been able to read again, for the first time in more than five years.

Surgeons at the Oxford Eye Hospital at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital implanted a tiny electronic chip at the back of Rhian Lewis’ retina, in her right eye as part of ongoing UK-funded research of the technology, Medical Xpress reports.

The 49-year-old mother of two was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa — a disorder that destroys the light sensitive cells called photoreceptors in the retina — when she was five.

The wafer-thin retinal implant chip was inserted into the back of her eye to replace damaged photoreceptors in a delicate operation.

The chip was developed by German engineering firm Retina Implant AG and captures the light entering the eye to stimulate the nerve cells of the inner retina to deliver signals to the brain through the optic nerve.

The device is connected to a tiny computer placed under the skin behind the ear that looks like a hearing aid.

Lewis said the device has changed her life in countless positive ways.

“It's simple things like shopping, clothes shopping, you don't know what you look like,” she said.

“It's been, maybe eight years that I've had any sort of idea of what my children look like. And I've got friends now where I've got no idea what they look like. And I certainly don't know how I've aged.”