FDA Approves Second Sight’s “Bionic Eye”

For patients who have lost their vision due to degenerative retinal disease, the dream of seeing again might just be a reality. After a unanimous recommendation for approval by the Ophthalmic Devices Advisory Panel in September 2012, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now officially approved Second Sight’s Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System, aka “the bionic eye” [1]. In a healthy eye, the photoreceptors (rods and cones) in the retina of the eye convert light to electrical signals that then travel via the optic nerve to the visual cortex in the brain. Argus II is indicated for patients with a condition called retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic disorder that damages the photoreceptors. The rest of the neural pathway still functions normally, but without the photoreceptors, vision is lost. The Argus II system bypasses the damaged photoreceptors and transmits visual information directly to the remaining healthy retinal cells. The system consists of both external and internal components. The patient wears eyeglasses integrated with a miniature video camera and transmitter, as well as a small video processing unit (VPU) on a belt or strap. Internally, a prosthesis consisting of an electronics case, receiver, and array of 60 electrodes is implanted on the retina during a surgical procedure that generally takes about 4 hours. The video camera captures an image from the patient’s environment and sends it to the VPU, which processes the information into ...
Source: Highlight HEALTH - Category: Medical Scientists Authors: Source Type: blogs