Implant and Camera System Restore Some Visual Function

U.K. health authorities have announced backing for 10 patients in England to receive bionic eye implants developed by the U.S. company Second Sight Medical Products. The bionic eyes are known as Argus II implants combined with a camera mounted onto a special pair of glasses.

The Argus II implants, which are able to restore a very basic level of vision to people blinded by the condition Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), have been tested in a series of clinical trials, and were approved by the FDA in 2013 and European health authorities in 2011.

Combined with a spectacle-mounted camera, the Argus II implant has now restored a basic level of visual function to dozens of patients blinded by Retinitis Pigmentosa, with results sustained over five years for many. Courtesy of Second Sight Medical Products.

Argus II works by bypassing the photoreceptors that are irreparably damaged in patients with RP. Instead, their still-healthy ganglions — cells that transmit visual information along the optic nerve — are stimulated through the combination of an epiretinal implant and a special pair of glasses with a camera.

Surgeons at London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital and Manchester’s Royal Eye Hospital will carry out the procedures, along with follow-up, rehabilitation and support from Second Sight.

NHS England is funding this project through its “Commissioning through Evaluation” program, which is designed to gather evidence for treatments showing significant promise for the future. NHS England will assess how the bionic eye helps patients function with everyday tasks.