FDA Approves First Bionic Eye for the Blind

http://energy.gov/articles/fda-approves-first-bionic-eye-blind

February 14, 2013

The U.S. Department of Energy announced today that its support for a decade of revolutionary research has contributed to the creation of the first ever retinal prosthesis – or bionic eye – to be approved in the United States by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for blind individuals with end-stage retinitis pigmentosa.

“The development of the artificial retina is just one more example of the unique value of our National Laboratories and research universities,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “While no one can predict a breakthrough before it happens, the investments we’re making in research pay enormous dividends for our economy and improve our lives.”

The artificial retina, dubbed the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System (developed and manufactured by Second Sight Medical Products Inc, Sylmar, California) may prove to be an aid to those blinded by the disease retinitis pigmentosa, which can run in families and is estimated by the National Institutes of Health to affect about 1 in 4,000 people in the United States. Over the ten year lifetime of the project, the Department provided $75.2 million for the development of technologies aimed at advancing artificial retinas like the Argus II, which was based on work by a consortium of scientists using advanced technologies developed by several of the Department’s National Laboratories.

The Argus II can partially restore the sight of blind individuals after surgical implantation. Clinical trials demonstrated that totally blind individuals could safely use the device to successfully identify the position and approximate size of objects and detect movement of nearby objects and people.

The Argus II operates by using a miniature camera mounted in eyeglasses that captures images and wirelessly sends the information to a microprocessor (worn on a belt) that converts the data to an electronic signal and transmits it to a receiver on the eye. The pulses travel to the optic nerve and, ultimately, to the brain, which perceives patterns of light and dark spots corresponding to the electrodes stimulated. Blind individuals can learn to interpret these visual patterns.

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More information about the FDA’s announcement today is available at http://artificialretina.energy.gov/about.shtml.