Ongoing projects

Argus Retinal Prosthesis
Drs. Mark Humayun and Eugene DeJuan at the Doheny Eye Institute (USC) were the original inventors of the active epi-retinal prosthesis [1] and demonstrated proof of principle in acute patient investigations at Johns Hopkins University in the early 1990s along with Dr. Robert Greenberg. In the late 1990s the company Second Sight was formed by Dr. Greenberg along with medical device entrepreneur, Alfred E. Mann, to develop a chronically implantable retinal prosthesis. Their first generation implant had 16 electrodes and was implanted in 6 subjects between 2002 and 2004. Five of these subjects still use the device in their homes today. These subjects, who were all completely blind prior to implantation, can now perform a surprising array of tasks using the device. More recently, the company announced that it has received FDA approval to begin a trial of its second generation, 60 electrode implant, in the US.[2][3] Additionally they have planned clinical trials worldwide, all getting underway in 2007. Three major US government funding agencies (National Eye Institute, Department of Energy, and National Science Foundation) have supported the work at Second Sight and USC.
Microsystem-based Visual Prosthesis (MIVIP)
Designed by Claude Veraart at the University of Louvain, this is a spiral cuff electrode around the optic nerve at the back of the eye. It is connected to a stimulator implanted in a small depression in the skull. The stimulator receives signals from an externally-worn camera, which are translated into electrical signals that stimulate the optic nerve directly.