29 January 2019 – Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
BVT welcomes Brian Gordon as our new Chief Scientific Officer
Bionic Vision Technologies Pty Ltd (BVT) is delighted to announce that Brian Gordon will be joining the company as its CSO. Brian joins BVT from Cochlear Ltd where he has held various senior engineering roles including most recently the position of Senior Portfolio Manager, Implants. Brian was responsible for delivery of Cochlear’s new implant projects to market. As CSO, Brian will oversee BVT’s future product development, clinical trials and regulatory approval initiatives required for the commercialisation of BVT’s retinal implant. From his time at Cochlear and RØDE, Brian will bring his strong leadership and deep experience in program management and the full development and commercialization cycle of implantable devices. To date, BVT’s “bionic eye” has been implanted in 7 patients including 4 currently enrolled in the first trial of a completely portable device.
About Bionic Vision Technologies Pty Ltd (BVT)
Bionic Vision Technologies Pty Ltd (BVT) is an Australian medical device company that aims to preserve and restore a sense of vision by developing a range of best in class technologies to address degenerative retinal conditions. BVT is commercialising the technologies developed by Bionic Vision Australia (BVA), a consortium of leading universities and research institutes funded by the Australian Research Council from 2010 to 31 December 2016. In April 2017, BVT received A$23.6 million from Hong Kong-based State Path Capital and China Huarong International Holdings. The funds enabled BVT to accelerate development and clinical studies. Consortium members collaborating on the trial include the Bionics Institute, Centre for Eye Research Australia, CSIRO’s Data 61, the University of Melbourne, and The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. BVT will seek further capital to complete regulatory trials and technology development.
How the Bionic Vision Technologies (BVT) Pty Ltd bionic eye works
The BVT developed bionic eye consists of implanted and body worn components. The patient wears glasses with a small video camera mounted on the side. The live feed from the camera is processed and transmitted via an implanted microchip to an electrode array placed in a naturally occurring pocket behind the retina, called the suprachoroidal space. The electrodes stimulate remaining cells in the retina, to generate spots of light that give a patient a sense of vision.