First clinical trial results of camera chip implanted under retina presented at 2010 ARVO meeting

May 7 2010

Retina Implant, AG, a leading developer of subretinal implants for the visually impaired, today announced the presentation of findings from their first clinical trial in which blind patients were able to view and focus on objects as their eye and head naturally moved as opposed to needing to constantly move their head to scan a scene, which is the case for other implants in which a camera is mounted to the patient's head. The presentation delivered by lead author, Professor Eberhart Zrenner, M.D., director and chairman of the Institute for Ophthalmic Research at the Center for Ophthalmology of the University of Tuebingen, Germany, is one of twelve Retina Implant-related presentations being presented at the 2010 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) annual meeting convening May 2-6 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“Our team is looking forward to building on the success of our first clinical trial as we embark on our second clinical trial in the months ahead.”

Dr. Zrenner's oral presentation entitled, "Electronic Implants Provide Continuous Stable Percepts in Blind Volunteers Only if the Image Receiver is Directly Linked to Eye Movement" highlights findings from Retina Implant's first human clinical trial which began in November 2005 with a 1500 pixel "camera chip" implanted under the retina. The findings from this study emphasize the important role of natural eye movements to avoid the fading of pictures and to allow constant perception of images without head movements. Retina Implant´s device is so far the only one in clinical studies worldwide that has this high resolution and works without assistance from external devices. Vision elicited by the subretinal implant allowed participants to focus and see objects the size of a knife or spoon as the eye regularly moves regardless of the direction in which their head faced.

"The results presented today are encouraging news in the fight to restore vision to patients suffering from retinitis pigmentosa," said Professor Eberhart Zrenner, M.D., director and chairman, Institute for Ophthalmologic Research at University Eye Hospital Tuebingen, Germany. "Unlike other retinal implants, Retina Implant's microchip requires no external devices because the placement of the chip in the light-sensitive area of the retina enables visual processing functions to be performed more naturally. In addition to providing patients with better acuity, not achieved by any other electronic implant so far, we also found that patients do not need to constantly jerk their head in order to scan a letter and to avoid fading of an image. For example, a person with Retina Implant's microchip looking for a cup on a table can find these objects by simply looking to the left or right with his eye vs. needing to constantly move their camera-mounted head."

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is one of the most common forms of inherited retinal degenerations that grows worse over time. Affecting approximately 300,000 people in the western world, this progressive condition typically causes severe vision problems in adulthood, often resulting in complete blindness. While there are currently no approved treatment options that can restore vision for RP patients or impede the progression of the disease, retinal implants represent tremendous promise for enabling blind RP patients to regain some useful sight.

"I had been totally blind for the past 15 years," said Miikka Terho a patient involved in Retina Implant's first clinical trial. "It was amazing the level of vision this microchip provided. I went from not being able to see anything to being able to read letters to form words and to recognize shapes and objects. During routine testing after my procedure, my physician had me use ophthalmological glasses to help me acclimate and explore this new field of vision."

"Our first clinical trial provided encouraging information about the safety, visual results and placement of our microchip," said Dr. Walter-G. Wrobel, president and CEO of Retina Implant, AG. "Our team is looking forward to building on the success of our first clinical trial as we embark on our second clinical trial in the months ahead."