Blind soldier 'sees' with his tongue

The new system — known as the BrainPort vision device — was developed by the Centre for Vision Restoration for the US Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM) and is being trialled in the UK by retired Lance Corporal, Craig Lundberg, who served with 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.

Lundberg was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in March 2007 while he was serving in Basra. As a result of the explosion his left eye had to be removed and his right eye was severely damaged, leaving him profoundly blind.

The BrainPort vision device works on the principle of sensory substitution; in this instance the touch sensors of the tongue are used instead of the photoreceptors of the eye.

To use the system, the patient wears a pair of glasses which carry a video camera. Images are fed into a device that is held in the mouth and transforms the pictures into electrical impulses that are felt on the tongue.