Last week MIT Technology Review reported that an advisory panel for the FDA has recommended the approval of a new implantable telescope for the eye that could help with vision loss from macular degeneration, an age-related eye disease that is the leading cause of blindness in people age 65 and older, affecting more than 10 million Americans.
Macular degeneration damages the center of the retina, called the macula, which is especially important for reading, watching television, and recognizing faces. As the Technology Review article points out, while some treatments exist to slow progression of the disease, no treatments are currently available for those in the latest stages of the disease, who have irreversible damage to the macula. An estimated 50,000 to 70,000 people per year fall into this category.
The new implant, developed by start-up VisionCare Technology of Saratoga, CA, consists of two lenses within a small glass tube. Once implanted inside the eye, it works like a fixed telephoto lens, acting in conjunction with the cornea to project a magnified image of whatever the wearer is looking at over a large part of the retina. Because only the central parts of the retina are damaged in the disease, magnifying the image on the eye allows the retinal cells outside the macula to detect the object and send that information to the brain.
The device is implanted in only one eye -- patients use this eye for detailed vision and the untreated eye for peripheral vision. That takes some getting used to, says Eli Peli, a scientist at The Schepens Eye Research Institute, who has consulted for VisionCare. "Instead of using two parts of the same eye, they must switch between two eyes; if they see someone coming but can't tell who it is, they need to switch to other eye."
The device is expected to win final FDA approval in late 2009 and will be on the market in the U.S. shortly thereafter.
(Photo courtesy of VisionCare)
