Times Online is reporting that Alfred Mann’s 2nd Sight Medical has enrolled two patients from the UK into a clinical trial of the company’s 60 electrode array Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System, a device covered by us on many occasions before (see flashbacks below). These enrollments are a part of the European leg of 2nd Sight’s phase I clinical trial for the Argus II Retinal Implant, announced back in February.
From the Times Online:
Linda Moorfoot is one of a few American patients to be fitted with the current version of the implant. She had been totally blind for more than a decade with the inherited condition retinitis pigmentosa.
But, with the aid of the camera mounted on a pair of sunglasses, she can now see a rough image of the world made up of light and dark blocks.
She told Sky News: “When I go to the grandkids’ hockey game or soccer game I can see which direction the game is moving in. I can shoot baskets with my grandson, and I can see my granddaughter dancing across the stage. It’s wonderful.”
Ms Moorfoot’s implant has just 16 electrodes but the US surgeons have helped to fit an even more advanced device to the two British patients.
The updated model has 60 electrodes to give a clearer image. Meanwhile in California, scientists are developing an implant with 1,000 electrodes, which should allow facial recognition.
More at the Times Online…
Flashbacks: Second Sight Medical Retinal Prosthesis Receives FDA Approval for Clinical Trials ; Second Sight Implant: Positive Results Reported in the Study; Diamond Coating for Second Sight Implant