DOE Artificial Retina Project Wins a 2009 R&D 100 Technology Award

Summary

An R&D 100 Technology Award for 2009 will be presented to a group of DOE researchers for the microelectronic technologies used in the artificial retina device. This interdisciplinary collabora­tion includes contributions from five DOE National Laboratories, four universities, and a private-sector industrial partner, Second Sight Medical Production. Second Sight, with support from the National Institutes of Health, has sponsored FDA approved clinical tests on the Argus I (16 micro­­electrodes) and the Argus II (60 microelectrodes) implantable devices in clinical centers in five countries. All 36 blind patients implanted thus far with the experimental devices were able to see light, successfully identify the position and approximate size of objects, and detect movement of nearby objects and people. In the near future, the DOE consortium will complete the develop­ment of a next generation 200+ microelectrode device.