SYLMAR, CA, 14 February 2013 After more than 20 years of research and development, Second Sight Medical Products, Inc.
ENGADGET: FDA clears Argus II 'bionic eye' for sale in the US (video)
The device, called the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System and made by Second Sight Medical Products of Sylmar, Calif.
Many other academic centers and companies are working on competing technology they say is more advanced than Second Sight's.
One the most well-known retinal implants in the world today is the Argus2 from Second Sight, which is a silicon-based prothesis.
Second Sight will be actively adding sites to make the therapy more readily available and encourages interested facilities and patients to contact them.
ENGADGET: FDA clears Argus II 'bionic eye' for sale in the US (video)
Patients report the biggest gains are in improved orientation and mobility, said Robert Greenberg, Second Sight's CEO, who also is a medical doctor.
Second Sight's Argus II contains 60 electrodes, but some other scientists say that for a retinal prosthesis to be truly useful to patients, hundreds are needed.
Second Sight believes that U.S. insurers will likely cover the cost of the device for patients who may not have other ways of treating their vision loss.
Second Sight is backed in part by the billionaire medical device investor Al Mann, who is its chairman, and by the legendary device inventor and venture capitalist Thomas Forgarty.
"We are thrilled to be able to offer the only FDA-approved long-term therapy for people suffering from advanced RP, " said Robert Greenberg, MD, PhD, President and CEO of Second Sight.
ENGADGET: FDA clears Argus II 'bionic eye' for sale in the US (video)
Argus II is set to become available later this year in U.S. clinical centers, and Second Sight said it would be adding sites to make the therapy more readily available.
Dr. Robert Greenberg, Second Sight's chief executive, told the New York Times that eventually, the company would like to implant the electrodes directly into the brain's cortex to treat blindness from all causes.
Those in the US suffering from blindness due to retinis pigmentosa (RP) will now be able to regain some vision bionically for the first time ever, thanks to Second Sight's Argus II retinal prosthesis.
Second Sight Medical Products developed the world's first working bionic eye, which could soon be available in the US, and fashion company Machina produced the world's first jacket to combine a MIDI controller with motion sensors -- essentially, it's a jacket that turns your body into a synthesizer.
In 1991, when Second Sight's Dr. Greenberg was still in medical training at Johns Hopkins University, he watched a retinal surgeon perform a procedure where he placed a wire in a patient's eye and ran a bit of electrical current through it, and the patient saw a spot of light.
But the second saddest sight in sports is the great athlete who doesn't know his or her career is over.
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With NaNoWriMo well underway and writers around the globe hammering away at their keyboards like crazed woodpeckers trying to get at that tasty grub hidden just out of sight, I thought it might be a good idea to take a step back for a second.
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