ESIGHT GIVES
NEW SIGHT
"I GOT TO SEE ALL OF HIS LITTLE FEATURES AND WHO
HE LOOKED LIKE AND THE LITTLE EXPRESSIONS AND LINES
ON HIS FACE. I REALLY CARVED IT INTO MY MEMORY."
by Lisa Bucher
“My sister was working for the
eSight company,” said Kathy Bietz.
“She was showing me the booklet
she had to go through with clients.
I put the glasses on and I was able
to see.”
That was the first time Bietz saw
her husband. “I have always been
attracted to him, but when I took a
look at him, I was like, that’s right!
I knew it! I think he is a totally cutie,”
she said. Bietz has Stargardt’s macular degeneration, a juvenile form
of macular degeneration.
38 www.spineoptics.com
“eSight is basically a video pair of
binoculars that allow patients with
vision loss especially from macular
types of conditions to see,” said
Dr. Anna Juricic, whose clinic was
the first to have eSight eyewear. She
has been following this technology
since the early prototype.
This wasn’t the first time Bietz
tested the eyewear. Prior to working
for the company, her sister was an
ambassador. When she was going
through the process of getting her
eyewear she informed eSight about
her sister. They tested Bietz with
the eyewear, but it didn’t work.
Two years later they came back with
adjustments based on the information and feedback from trials. This
time she could see. “The moment
I realized how much I could see was
when she showed me a regular
cheque,” said Bietz. “ I could see pay
to the order of, where the lines were,
and where to write the date. I have
never been able to see that before.”
There is no government assistance
to help pay for the $15,000 device.