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Retinal implant offers the potential for sight to blind patients
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NEW YORK — A prosthetic device surgically implanted on the retina at the macula offers the potential for visual perception for patients with retinitis pigmentosa, and future engineering may offer even greater visual performance.
The implant, called the Argus II (Second Sight Medical Products), combines an electrode array that is tacked to the retina in the macula and a camera that is worn on a special pair of glasses. Signals from the camera are transmitted to the implant and processed through the patient's own neural network.
In clinical testing with the Argus II, which contains 60 electrodes — an upgrade from the 16 electrodes in the Argus I — 59% of 17 patients with light perception or worse vision who completed 6 months of follow-up were able to find and walk to a door unassisted. Before being implanted, just 32% were able to perform the same task.
The creator of the device, Mark S. Humayun, MD, PhD, was awarded the Retina Research Foundation Award of Merit, sponsored by the Retina Society, here at Retina Congress 2009.
"We're trying to jump start the blind eye," Dr. Humayun said. "We're trying to stimulate the remaining neurons by a new genre of bioelectronics. We're taking someone who initially is completely blind, hooking them up to a camera in real time, and having those camera images be sent via a code and electrical stimulation up the retina to the brain. If we do this for the totally blind, then can we get it to higher resolution imagery so people can actually read and recognize faces?"
Work is now under way on a 128 electrode device that may offer even greater visual sensation, Dr. Humayun said.