Second Sight Announces First Commercial Implant of Retinal Prosthesis
From: Medical Design Technology - 11/03/2011

Second Sight Medical Products, Inc., a leading developer of retinal
prostheses for the blind, announced that the first ever commercial
implantation of such a prosthesis was successfully completed on Saturday,
October 29th in Pisa, Italy. 

Argus II is Second Sight’s less invasive second generation implantable device
intended to treat blind people suffering from degenerative diseases of the
outer retina such as RP. The system works by converting video images captured
by a miniature camera, housed in the patient’s glasses, into a series of
small electrical pulses that are transmitted wirelessly to an array of
electrodes on the surface of the retina (epi-retinal). These pulses are
intended to stimulate the retina’s remaining cells resulting in the
corresponding perception of patterns of light in the brain. Patients can
learn to interpret these visual patterns thereby gaining some functional
vision. The system was tested in a multi-center international clinical trial
that began in 2007. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.mdtmag.com/News/YahooPipes/2011/11/Second-Sight-Announces-First-Commercial-Implant-of-Retinal-Prosthesis/

Links:
Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. (video)
http://2-sight.eu/en/home-en

Argus II Retinal Prosthesis
http://2-sight.eu/en/product-en