A blind Minneapolis-Saint Paul man outfitted with what scientists are describing as a “bionic eye” has been able to objects and people again — including his wife and family — for the first time in a decade.
 

Allen Zderad was effectively blind, as a result of a degenerative incurable condition known as retinitis pigmentosa. After being diagnosed, he was forced to quit his professional career, made adjustments to his lifestyle, and continued woodworking through his sense of touch and spatial awareness.
 

But with the help of a new retinal prosthesis, Zderad can now make out the outlines of objects and people, and even his own reflection, Medical News Today reports.
 

"I would like to say I think he's a remarkable man, when you consider what he's overcome in dealing with his visual disability," says Raymond Iezzi Jr., M.D., an ophthalmologist from the Mayo Clinic. "To be able to have offered him the retinal prosthesis to enhance what he can already do was a great honor for me."
 

The eye implant that Zderad received works by bypassing the damaged retina and sending light wave signals directly to the optic nerve. A small chip attached to the back of the eye contains multiple electrodes offering 60 points of stimulation.
 

Wires from the device connect to a pair of glasses worn by Zderad that have a camera at the bridge of the nose that relay images to a small computer worn in a belt pack. These images are then processed and transmitted as visual information to the implant and the brain.
 

"Mr. Zderad is experiencing what we call artificial vision," explains Dr. Iezzi. "It's not like any form of vision that he's had before. He's receiving pulses of electrical signal that are going on to his retina and those are producing small flashes of light called electro-phosphenes. These small flashes of light are sort of like the points of light on a scoreboard at a baseball game."
 

Dr. Iezzi would like to see the technology expanded to patients who have lost the use of their eyes, such as wounded soldiers or people with advanced diabetes or glaucoma.
 

"It's crude, but it's significant," said Zderad happily, as he first used the device. "It'll work."

When asked how he recognized his wife after not seeing her for a decade he said: "It's easy, she's the most beautiful one in the room."