[Nfbf-l] Second Sight Surpasses Major Milestone for Blind People with Retinitis Pigmentosa

[Alan Dicey]

Second Sight Surpasses Major Milestone for Blind People with Retinitis 
Pigmentosa
50th and 51st Patients Worldwide implanted with Argus® Retinal Prosthesis; 
Additional Procedures Planned across Europe and Elsewhere.
Lausanne, Switzerland, October 25, 2012.
Professor Stanislao Rizzo, vitreoretinal Surgeon and Director of U.O. 
Chirurgia Oftalmica, AOUP, Pisa, Italy, marked an important milestone last 
week when a patient blinded by Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) was implanted with 
an Argus II Retinal Prosthesis (Argus II), becoming the 50th patient in the 
world to be implanted with sight restoring technology manufactured by Second 
Sight Medical Products Inc. The next day his colleague Prof. Albert 
Augustin, Augenklinik Karlsruhe, Germany, implanted the 51st device into a 
German patient.
"I am very proud to have been the surgeon that performed the milestone 50th 
implant," said Prof. Rizzo, "Our patients are really grateful for this 
groundbreaking therapy as this gives them back more autonomy in their daily 
life".
RP is a rare, hereditary disease that causes a progressive degeneration of 
the light-sensitive cells of the retina, leading to significant visual 
impairment and ultimately blindness, which until now was untreatable. Second 
Sight's Argus II System employs electrical stimulation to bypass these 
defunct cells and stimulate remaining viable retinal cells to induce visual 
perception in blind individuals.
Prof. Rizzo added, "The results we have seen to date have gone way beyond 
any expectation that I had. Patients that previously had practically no 
residual vision, can now distinguish shapes, move around and eat more 
independently. This has an enormous emotional and functional impact on their 
quality of life. As well, the safety profile has been very strong and none 
of my seven patients have experienced a serious adverse event."
The 51st patient was implanted by Prof. Augustin who said, "This is a great 
opportunity! For the first time in history we are re-establishing visual 
function in these blind patients."
"The cooperation of hospitals all over Europe has been very gratifying", 
said Gregoire Cosendai, PhD, Head of Europe for Second Sight. "Leading 
ophthalmologists are now aware of the meaningful benefit that Argus II 
offers their patients and are becoming proactive in advancing the therapy in 
their clinic. We will soon see additional procedures performed in other 
countries, both within and outside Europe."
About the Second Sight Retinal Prosthesis System
The system works by converting video images captured by a miniature camera, 
housed in the patient's glasses, into a series of small electrical pulses 
that are transmitted wirelessly to an array of electrodes on the surface of 
the retina. These pulses are intended to stimulate the retina's remaining 
cells resulting in the corresponding perception of patterns of light in the 
brain. Patients then learn to interpret these visual patterns thereby 
regaining some visual function. Six of the first 50 patients were implanted 
with a first generation Argus I system, that was attached to an electronic 
implant inserted invasively in the skull behind the ear with a wire 
connecting to the eye under the skin. The last 45 patients have received the 
second generation Argus II system, which is much less invasive and is 
implanted only in and around the eye. Second Sight gained European approval 
(CE Mark) for the Argus II system in 2011 - the first and only approval of a 
retinal prosthesis anywhere in the world. In September 2012, a U.S. Food and 
Drug Administration (FDA) Ophthalmic Devices Advisory Panel unanimously 
voted 19-0 to recommend FDA approval, which is now pending.
About Second Sight
Second Sight Medical Products Inc., located in Los Angeles, California, was 
founded in 1998 to create a retinal prosthesis to provide sight to patients 
blinded from outer retinal degenerations, such as RP. Through dedication and 
innovation, Second Sight's mission is to develop, manufacture and market 
implantable visual prosthetics to enable blind individuals to achieve 
greater independence. European Headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland. 
For more information, go to www.2-sight.com.
Contacts
Second Sight Medical Products
Maura Arsiero, PhD
publicrelations at 2-sight.com
Tel: +41 21 693 91 01
Mobile: +41 76 570 88 70