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Second Sight Medical (NSDQ:EYES) today announced the first trial implantation of its Orion cortical visual prosthesis system and updated on implantations of its Argus device and enrollment in an upcoming study.

The first implantation procedure was performed late last month by Dr. Nader Pouratian at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, the Sylmar, Calif.-based company said, as part of an FDA-cleared feasibility trial it won approval to launch last November.

The Orion cortical visual prosthesis system is designed to convert images captured by a miniature video camera, mounted on a patient’s glasses, into a series of electrical pulses which are transmitted wirelessly to an array of electrodes on the surface of the individual’s visual cortex.

The result is the perception of patterns of light, Second Sight said, which bypass the retina and optic nerve to potentially restore useful vision to patients who are completely blind due to reasons including glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, cancer or trauma.

“The first-in-human implant of the Orion is a significant milestone for Second Sight, and a critical step forward in meeting our company’s mission to develop devices that could potentially treat nearly all forms of blindness. We expect that an additional four patients will be included in this feasibility study at UCLA and the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston,” board chair Dr. Robert Greenberg said in a prepared statement.

Read More at the Source: Second Sight touts 1st-in-human Orion cortical implant – MassDevice

BY FINK DENSFORD