{"id":5162,"date":"2013-02-19T20:40:47","date_gmt":"2013-02-19T20:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.zennioptical.com\/?p=5162"},"modified":"2024-12-10T23:33:48","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T07:33:48","slug":"bionic-eye-sees-the-light-of-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ca.zennioptical.com\/blog\/bionic-eye-sees-the-light-of-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Bionic Eye Sees the Light of Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

While it may sound like something more likely to be read in science fiction than reality, the world\u2019s first bionic eye received FDA approval last week.<\/p>\n

Years in the making, the retinal prosthesis, labeled Argus II, is able to restore partial eyesight to people blinded with Retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease than inflicts around 100,000 Americans.<\/p>\n

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People with the degenerative eye disease have found very little solace in the past, as the disease destroys photoreceptors in the eye \u2013 a tissue layer at the back of the eye \u2013 that process light. The symptoms vary, but those afflicted with RP experience ailments such as night blindness to trouble adjusting from light environments to dark, to lack of central vision (and other a lack of peripheral) to some finally going blind. However, with Second Sight Medical Products\u2019s retinal prosthesis, the device implanted on the retina can stimulate the cells as if receiving light, triggering them to transmit an image to the brain.<\/p>\n

PopSci explains<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Argus II works by substituting a small array of electrodes for the light-sensing cells that normally react to light by sending an electric signal toward the back of the retina. Those signals are relayed to the optic nerve behind the eye, and travel back along the nerve to the brain.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to the electrode array, which is implanted in the retina at the back of the eye, the Argus II system consists of a small video camera attached to a pair of eyeglasses and a visual processor the user carries around their waste. Data from the video camera is sent to the visual processor and then back to the glasses, where it is transmitted wirelessly to the embedded electrodes.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While the number of electrodes limits patients and the device is unable to restore sight completely, already some of the patients who took part of the clinical trials have been able to make out the shape of a curb while walking as others were able to read the headlines of a newspaper.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is a game changer in sight-affecting diseases,\u201d Second Sight Chief Executive Robert Greenberg told the Wall Street Journal<\/a><\/em>,\u201d that represents a huge steps forward for the field and for these patients who were without any available treatment options until now.\u201d<\/p>\n

While patients are able to see in black and white, Second Sight\u2019s hope is for color vision. Some of the challenges ahead for the team is how to add more electrodes into the tiny chip that sits on the retina \u2013 about 5 millimeters by 7 millimeters \u2013 to stimulate enough cells in the retina to produce a good quality image. \u201cThe fact that many patients can use the Argus implant in their activities of daily living \u2026 has been beyond our wildest dreams,\u201d stated Mark Humayun, a University of Southern California medical professor and doctor who was involved with the Argus, added, \u201cyet the promise to the patients is real and we expect it only to improve over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Argus II will be available to patients later this year in U.S. clinical center. (The device has already been approved in Europe.) Brian Mech, vice president of business development at Second Sight, reported to Reuter<\/a>s that while the system will cost more than $100,000, the company \u201cis working with insurance companies and Medicare to win coverage and ease out of pocket expenses for patients.\u201d The device is available only to patients who have had vision in the past and currently limited to adults 25 or older.<\/p>\n

The device is a shining example of engineering integrity, as Mech said that the device was the result of \u201c14 years, $200 million, and a lot of \u2018intestinal fortitude.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-teaser"],"acf":[],"contentshake_article_id":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ca.zennioptical.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ca.zennioptical.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ca.zennioptical.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ca.zennioptical.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ca.zennioptical.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5162"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ca.zennioptical.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96079,"href":"https:\/\/ca.zennioptical.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5162\/revisions\/96079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ca.zennioptical.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ca.zennioptical.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ca.zennioptical.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}