Second Sight Surpasses Major Milestone for Blind People with Retinitis Pigmentosa

Second Sight Surpasses Major Milestone for Blind People with Retinitis Pigmentosa PR Newswire LAUSANNE, Switzerland, October 30, 2012 LAUSANNE, Switzerland, October 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- th st ®50 and 51 Patients Worldwide implanted with Argus Retinal Prosthesis; Additional Procedures Planned across Europe and Elsewhere. Prof. Stanislao Rizzo, vitreoretinal Surgeon and Director of U.O. Chirurgia Oftalmica, AOUP, Pisa, Italy, marked an important milestone last week when a patient blinded by Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) was implanted with an Argus II thRetinal Prosthesis (Argus II), becoming the 50 patient in the world to be implanted with sight restoring technology manufactured by Second Sight Medical Products Inc. The next day his colleague Prof. Albert Augustin, Augenklinik stKarlsruhe, Germany, implanted the 51 device into a German patient. th"I am very proud to have been the surgeon that performed the milestone 50 implant," said Prof. Rizzo, "Our patients are really grateful for this groundbreaking therapy as this gives them back more autonomy in their daily life". RP is a rare, hereditary disease that causes a progressive degeneration of the light-sensitive cells of the retina, leading to significant visual impairment and ultimately blindness, which until now was untreatable. Second Sight's Argus II System employs electrical stimulation to bypass these defunct cells and stimulate remaining viable retinal cells to induce visual perception in blind individuals. Prof.