[Nfbf-l] Breakthrough artificial retina nears FDA approval.

[Alan Dicey]

Breakthrough artificial retina nears FDA approval.
October 16, 2012 by Sarah Fecht.
It's been three years since Barbara Campbell first had an electrode array 
implanted on the back of her eye. She wears it every time she leaves the 
house, using it to navigate around New York City. After being blind for more 
than a decade, the artificial retina has partially restored Barbara's sight, 
and  she delights in the fact that her vision is still improving in subtle 
ways.

The creators of the Argus II-the device that has helped Campbell to regain 
some sight -won a Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award in 2010. Now the 
device,  which has been in clinical trials since 2008, is getting closer to 
being able to  help people beyond Campbell. Earlier this month, the FDA 
voted unanimously to recommend Argus for approval. Mark Humayun, the 
biological engineer who co-invented the Argus II, says that the team expects 
FDA approval within the next few months, and thinks the technology could be 
marketed to U.S.  patients in 2013.

For Cambpell and a few other Argus test subjects who attended the FDA 
hearing, the ruling was a victory. "The more people that can use [the Argus 
II], the  more research that can go into it, and the more advances it can 
make," she says.
"It's a win-win for everybody."

The device uses a sunglass-mounted camera to capture an image, and then 
translates the image into a pattern of signals. The signals are sent to an 
array of 60 electrodes implanted at the back of the eye. The electrodes 
fire, stimulating the retinal cells that collect light in a healthy eye. The 
brain interprets those pulses into an image.

Humayun says his team is now working to increase the implant's from 60 
electrodes to 240 or more, which is expected to increase the resolution of 
the image it creates. The team has also found a way to restore some color 
vision  to users of the device; this feature could be incorporated into 
future  generations of the technology.

For Barbara, that would be a dream come true. "I would love color," she 
says. "I really miss seeing color." For now, though, she's already enjoying 
things  she never thought she would again. One day, eight months ago, as she 
walked  along East 85th Street she noticed something glinting. "I realized, 
'Oh this is  the railing on the ramp to the gym.' I hadn't seen that before. 
It was exciting.  Now I can look for that as a landmark as I come down the 
block."

Source URL:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/how-to/blog/breakthrough-artificial-retina-nears-fda-approval-13781574

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