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Doheny Recognized for Development of Retinal Prosthesis
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The Doheny Eye Institute at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California has won a prestigious 2009 R&D 100 Award for development of its retinal prosthesis, which gives people blind from retinitis pigmentosa the ability to identify shapes and objects, and navigate the environment. The award is given by R&D Magazine in recognition of technologically significant products. The retinal prosthesis consists of an electrode grid that is surgically implanted on the retina. The electrodes transmit information acquired from an external video camera that is mounted on a pair of eyeglasses worn by the user. The company Second Sight is currently evaluating a 60-electrode retinal prosthesis in human studies taking place in the United States, Europe, and Mexico. The company was formed to advance the retinal prosthesis into human studies, and ultimately, make the device available to people around the world who have lost all of their vision to RP and related retinal degenerative diseases. Mark Humayan, M.D., Ph.D., one of the original developers of the prosthesis and director of the artificial retina program at Doheny, is developing a 300-electrode device. He and his colleagues believe that a prosthesis with more electrodes will enable users to see more detail. “We congratulate Doheny on their well deserved recognition,” says Stephen Rose, Ph.D., chief researcher officer, Foundation Fighting Blindness. “Their emerging technology is giving mobility and independence to people who are blind from retinal diseases and have no other options for vision restoration.” The Foundation Fighting Blindness funded earlier, preclinical studies of the retinal prosthesis. |
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