Beijing, Sep 10 (IANS): A six-year-old boy whose eyes were gouged out in a recent attack received an artificial eye Tuesday in a transplant operation, Xinhua reported.

Guo Bin underwent the surgery at C-MER Dennis Lam Eye Hospital in Shenzhen city of China's Guangdong province, which is run by Hong Kong doctor Dennis Lam.

An artificial eye was placed in the right eye socket of the boy, who was lured into a field by a woman Aug 24 in China's Shanxi province, where the woman gouged out the boy's eyes.

The suspect was later identified as the boy's aunt. She jumped into a well near her home and died Aug 30.

Doctors used autologous fat transfer on Guo's left eye instead of an artificial eye transplant because there was not enough tissue to support the eye and the area had a number of scars, according to Dennis Lam.

Scleral shells, a type of ocular prosthesis, are expected to be placed in four to six weeks to give the appearance of normal eyes, he said.

Dennis Lam was optimistic about the boy's recovery and said he could produce tears normally when he recovers.

The hospital will train the boy to use a sensory navigation tool by the end of this year, which he will be able to use to walk independently, according to the doctor.

The cost of the operation and future rehabilitation is about $50,000, which will be wholly exempted by the hospital.

C-MER (Shenzhen) Dennis Lam Eye Hospital, which opened March 21 this year, is the first solely Hong Kong-funded hospital in the Chinese mainland.

The boy's tragic experience has led to national concern. His family has received more than one million yuan ($162,085) in donations, according to media reports.