The first true bionic eye has just been implanted on an elderly blind woman, enabling her to see the world for the very first time.

The man behind this technological advancement is Dr Mark Humayun, Professor of ophthalmology and biomedical engineering at the Doheny Eye Institute in Los Angeles, California.

Using the pea-sized cameras linked to an artificial retina that transmits data along the optic nerve to the brain, those who are afflicted with blindness have the opportunity to see the world with these "eyes."

The bionic eyes might not be as good as the real thing but it's enough to help people see rough images. One of the first few patients to receive the treatment was Linda Moorfoot. She's able to differentiate light and dark blocks with the bionic eyes that have 16 electrodes.

The updated model of the bionic eyes now have 60 electrodes which enables the formulation of clearer images. Furthermore, scientists are now developing an implant that has about a thousand electrodes which can allow facial recognition.

According to Humayun, "The camera is very, very small, and very low power, so it can go inside your eye and couple your eye movement to where the camera is." He's hoping that in the coming four or five years, technology on bionic eyes would become more advanced.