Second Sight to Convene First Ever Retinal Prosthesis Users Summit at Retina International World Congress

Informations

• Publié par: second-sight-medical-products-inc
• Nombre de lectures: 36
• Langue: English

Extrait

Second Sight to Convene First Ever Retinal

Prosthesis Users Summit at Retina

International World Congress

PR Newswire

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, July 13, 2012

LAUSANNE

,

Switzerland

,

July 13, 2012

/PRNewswire/ --

12 Argus

®

II Users to Meet and Attend the Congress in Hamburg

Second Sight Medical Products, Inc., the world's only developer and

manufacturer of an approved retinal prosthesis for the blind, is hosting a

summit for users of the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System to be held in

conjunction with the Retina International World Congress this weekend (

July 13 -

15

) in

Hamburg, Germany

. Twelve (12) users will come together to see each

other for the first time, share their experiences, and provide feedback on

future product development for Second Sight. Users from the UK,

France

,

Germany

,

Switzerland

, and

Italy

are expected to attend.

Additionally, the company is co-sponsoring a lunchtime symposium on

electronic retinal implants on

Saturday, July 14

. In this session, Prof. Dr. med.

Peter Walter (Universitäts-Augenklinik, RWTH Aachen,

Germany

), one of three

surgeons in

Germany

to have implanted Argus II in patients to date, and Fatima

Anaflous (Second Sight,

Lausanne

,

Switzerland

) will present the latest

information on Argus II,

Europe's

only approved and commercially available

retinal prosthesis. Walter is excited about presenting long-term data from

participants in the company's clinical trials, which began in 2002 and include

patients that have used the implant for up to 8 years, and also the results from

commercial patients. "I started to work on retinal implants more than fifteen

years ago here in

Germany

because I knew we could and we should help blind

patients suffering from retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Today with Argus II, we can

finally offer a treatment to patients backed by many years of safety and

performance data". Anaflous, a low vision therapist, will present three years of

patient experience with integrating the Argus II in their daily lives and what it

means for these individuals. Second Sight will also host a booth in the exhibit

hall to field enquiries from doctors and prospective patients.

Argus II

is Second Sight's less invasive second generation implantable device

intended to treat blind people suffering from degenerative diseases of the

outer retina such as RP. 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 (epi-retinal). 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 gaining some functional vision. Argus II was

tested in a single arm, controlled, prospective, multicenter international clinical

trial, the results of which were published in the April edition of the prestigious

journal,

Ophthalmology

, and showed that "The

Argus

ll prosthesis system is

reliable over the long term and provided benefit to implanted subjects during

this period … This demonstrates the ability of this retinal implant to provide

meaningful visual perception and usefulness to subjects blind as a result of end-

stage outer retinal degenerations."

Gregoire Cosendai, PhD, head of Second Sight's European subsidiary, added

"We warmly welcome the

Argus

ll users from across

Europe

to

Hamburg

to

share their experiences. We are looking forward to learning more about what is

important to them now and in the future for retinal prosthetics".

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 Retinitis

Pigmentosa. 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

.Second Sight,

Argus

and the Second Sight logo are

registered trademarks of Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. Argus II

is not approved for commercial use in

the United States

; it is being

used in clinical trials under an FDA-approved Investigational Device

Exemption (IDE).

For more information please contact

Maura Arsiero ([phone])

[e-mail]

[e-mail]