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In this April 16, 2014
image from video Dr. Thiran Jayasundera, left, looks at
Roger Pontz’s left eye as Pontz’s wife, Terri Pontz, right,
looks on at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center on
April 16, 2014, in Ann Arbor, Mich. The artificial implant
that currently resides in Pontz’s left eye is called the
Argus II, and is part of the system developed by a
California company that includes a small video camera and
transmitter housed in a pair of glasses. Images from the
camera are converted into a series of electrical pulses that
are transmitted wirelessly to an array of electrodes on the
surface of the retina. (AP Photo, Mike Householder) |
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Michigan
man
among
1st in
US to
get
'bionic
eye'
By MIKE
HOUSEHOLDER
Associated
Press
ANN
ARBOR,
MI -
A
degenerative
eye
disease
slowly
robbed
Roger Pontz of
his
vision.
Diagnosed
with
retinitis
pigmentosa
as a
teenager,
Pontz
has been
almost
completely
blind
for
years.
Now,
thanks
to a
high-tech
procedure
that
involved
the
surgical
implantation
of a
"bionic
eye,"
he's
regained
enough
of his
eyesight
to catch
small
glimpses
of his
wife,
grandson
and cat.
"It's
awesome.
It's
exciting
- seeing
something
new
every
day,"
Pontz
said
during a
recent
appointment
at the
University
of
Michigan
Kellogg
Eye
Center.
The
55-year-old
former
competitive
weightlifter
and
factory
worker
is one
of four
people
in the
U.S. to
receive
an
artificial
retina
since
the Food
and Drug
Administration
signed
off on
its use
last
year.
The
facility
in Ann
Arbor
has been
the site
of all
four
such
surgeries
since
FDA
approval.
A fifth
is
scheduled
for next
month.
Retinitis
pigmentosa
is an
inherited
disease
that
causes
slow but
progressive
vision
loss due
to a
gradual
loss of
the
light-sensitive
retinal
cells
called
rods and
cones.
Patients
experience
loss of
side
vision
and
night
vision,
then
central
vision,
which
can
result
in near
blindness.
Not all
of the
100,000
or so
people
in the
U.S.
with
retinitis
pigmentosa
can
benefit
from the
bionic
eye. An
estimated
10,000
have
vision
low
enough,
said Dr.
Brian
Mech, an
executive
with
Second
Sight
Medical
Products
Inc.,
the
Sylmar,
Calif.-based
company
that
makes
the
device.
Of
those,
about
7,500
are
eligible
for the
surgery.
The
artificial
implant
in
Pontz's
left eye
is part
of a
system
developed
by
Second
Sight
that
includes
a small
video
camera
and
transmitter
housed
in a
pair of
glasses.
In this
April
16, 2014
image
from
video
Dr.
Naheed
Khan,
right,
works
with
Roger
Pontz,
left, on
an
exercise
to test
how well
he sees
shapes
on a
computer
screen
at the
University
of
Michigan
Kellogg
Eye
Center,
April
16,
2014, in
Ann
Arbor,
Mich.
Pontz
suffers
from a
degenerative
eye
disease
called
retinitis
pigmentosa
and is
the
second
patient
in the
U.S. to
surgically
receive
a
“bionic
eye”
since
the U.S.
Food and
Drug
Administration
signed
off on
its use
last
year.
(AP
Photo,
Mike
Householder)
Images
from the
camera
are
converted
into a
series
of
electrical
pulses
that are
transmitted
wirelessly
to an
array of
electrodes
on the
surface
of the
retina.
The
pulses
stimulate
the
retina's
remaining
healthy
cells,
causing
them to
relay
the
signal
to the
optic
nerve.
The
visual
information
then
moves to
the
brain,
where it
is
translated
into
patterns
of light
that can
be
recognized
and
interpreted,
allowing
the
patient
to
regain
some
visual
function.
When
wearing
the
glasses,
which
Pontz
refers
to as
his
"eyes,"
he can
identify
and grab
his cat
and
figure
out that
a flash
of light
is his
grandson
hightailing
it to
the
kitchen.
The
visual
improvement
is
sometimes
startling
for
Pontz
and his
wife,
Terri,
who is
just as
amazed
at her
husband's
progress
as he
is.
"I said
something
I never
thought
I'd say:
`Stop
staring
at me
while
I'm
eating,'"
Terri
Pontz
said.
She
drives
her
husband
the
nearly
200
miles
from
tiny
Reed
City,
Mich.,
to Ann
Arbor
for
check-ups
and
visits
with
occupational
therapist
Ashley
Howson,
who
helps
Roger
Pontz
reawaken
his
visual
memory
and
learn
techniques
needed
to make
the most
of his
new
vision.
At the
recent
visit,
Howson
handed
Pontz
white
and
black
plates,
instructed
him to
move
them
back and
forth in
front of
light
and dark
backgrounds
and
asked
that he
determine
their
color.
Back
home,
Terri
Pontz
helps
her
husband
practice
the
techniques
he
learns
in Ann
Arbor.
For
them,
the long
hours on
the road
and the
homework
assignments
are a
blessing.
"What's
it worth
to see
again?
It's
worth
everything,"
Terri
Pontz
said.
The
artificial
retina
procedure
has been
performed
several-dozen
times
over the
past few
years in
Europe,
and the
expectation
is that
it will
find
similar
success
in the
U.S.,
where
the
University
of
Michigan
is one
of 12
centers
accepting
consultations
for
patients.
Candidates
for the
retinal
prosthesis
must be
25 or
older
with
end-stage
retinitis
pigmentosa
that has
progressed
to the
point of
having
"bare
light"
or no
light
perception
in both
eyes.
Dr.
Thiran
Jayasundera,
one of
two
physicians
who
performed
the
4.5-hour
surgery
on Roger
Pontz,
is
scheduled
to
discuss
his
experiences
with the
retinal
prosthesis
process
during a
meeting
of the
American
Society
of
Cataract
and
Refractive
Surgery
on
Friday
in
Boston.
He calls
it a
"game-changer."
Pontz
agrees:
"I can
walk
through
the
house
with
ease. If
that's
all I
get out
of this,
it'd be
great."
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