In the Argus II, the newer generation device, the surgery takes two hours and involves 60 electrodes.
The device, called the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System and made by Second Sight Medical Products of Sylmar, Calif.
Some 50 patients, including Ms. Campbell, have been implanted with the Argus II, with two-thirds of them experiencing benefits.
This approach is different than most other artificial retinal treatments, such as the recently FDA approved Argus II system.
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With approval from the FDA, the Argus II is slated to be available later this year in clinical centers across the country.
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The FDA reviewed data that included a clinical study of 30 study participants with RP who received the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System.
The Argus II is already available in Europe, and will be available at seven hospitals in New York, California, Texas, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Results from the clinical study show that most participants were able to perform basic activities better with the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System than without it.
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.
There are two parts to the Argus II Retinal System.
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Although the resulting vision is not the same as when these patients had normal vision, investigators involved in the clinical trial of the Argus II are eager about the approval.
ENGADGET: FDA clears Argus II 'bionic eye' for sale in the US (video)
The Argus II was approved with the CE mark for use in Europe in 2011 and the Retinal Prosthesis system is the first prosthesis of its kind in the world.
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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.
She had the Argus II implanted in her left eye in 2009 after hearing about the device through her work at the New York state Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped.
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.
The FDA approved the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System as a humanitarian use device, an approval pathway limited to those devices that treat or diagnose fewer than 4, 000 people in the United States each year.
The artificial retina, called the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System, is the first implantable device to treat the condition and is approved for people over age 25 with advanced RP who can see some light.
Based on those results, the agency approved the Argus II as a humanitarian use device, meaning that it may help fewer than 4, 000 people but that these patients have no other alternatives to treat their condition.
Argus II is intended to provide electrical stimulation of the retina to induce visual perception in blind individuals with retinitis pigmentosa and has the capacity to offer life-changing visual capabilities to those currently unable to see anything except, at best, extremely bright lights.
ENGADGET: FDA clears Argus II 'bionic eye' for sale in the US (video)
In the case of the Argus II, the bionic eye or more accurately, the artificial retina, will turn darkness into light through a system comprised of electronics in the eye and wearable technology which wirelessly transmits a signal to the implant in the eye that lets the patient see again.
FORBES: First Bionic Eye For US Market Awaits Approval From FDA
During the FDA review that included reports from 30 participants using the device, the agency found that most patients performed basic tasks, like touching a square in a white field, better with the Argus II than without it and that 19 of the participants experienced no adverse effects to the surgery.
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