OPHTHALMOLOGY
Success for wireless retina implants
Following 12 years of development, German surgeons and technicians have successfully implanted the world's first vision prosthesis in six blind patients.
Millions of people suffer Retinitis pigmentosa, in which eyesight diminishes continuously as retina cells die, resulting finally in blindness. However, part of the nerve cells usually remains intact, which is where vision prostheses can help.
Led by Professor Wilfried Mokwa, engineers at RWTH Aachen University and at the Fraunhofer Institute of Microelectronic Circuits and Systems in Duisburg, developed the vision prosthesis, named EPIRET3 to treat the condition. Today, it is the only system, worldwide, that works wirelessly, i.e. the complete implant is fixed into the eye and needs no connection to external cable links, whereas other retina implants do. This reduces surgery time, simplifies handling and reduces patient stress.
Six patients, all blind for several years, volunteered for the procedure. During a four-week test phase, specialists at the neurophysics group in Philipps University Marburg used various electrical test stimuli to stimulate the patients’ retinas. These triggered visual impressions in all the patients, who could distinguish optical patterns.
Following this initial success, the next step is to extend the duration of the implantation and further improve the surgical technology. To ensure patients can find their way around their surroundings the system will have to be linked with a camera that transmits wireless signals to the implant.
Since this system has proved effective and safe in the first patients, several medical technology companies have set up a company to develop a marketable retina implant, which should become available for more patients in a few years. It may also be used to treat advanced, age-related macular degeneration – a commoner eye disease that causes about 50% age-related blindness.
Since 1995, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research has invested 17.5 million euros to promote the development of vision prostheses. Thomas Rachel, Parliamentary Secretary of State at the Ministry, commented: ‘Scientists and technicians have jointly achieved something outstanding. We hope that many blind people will soon reap the benefits of these results.’
30.04.2008
