New data on patients implanted with a microchip designed to restore eyesight indicates that the device improved their vision enough to have an impact on their daily lives.
Retina Implant AG, the maker of a subrential implant designed to restore vision in people suffering from retinitus pigmentosa, said initial findings from the company's second clinical trial showed that the first seven patients permanently implanted with the company's device experienced restored useful visual function that enabled them to improve activities of daily living.
This data is also from a study in which the device was powered — for the first time — by a battery implanted under the skin.
"This study proves that the technology can work well while offering patients the mobility and the freedom to see beyond the laboratory setting. We look forward to presenting additional data in the future as more patients are implanted in Germany and beyond." CEO Walter Wrobel said in prepared remarks.
The new data is being presented this week at the 2011 Association of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
In March, Retina Implant closed an $18 million funding round and announced plans to begin its first clinical trial in the United States.
Here's a roundup of recent clinical trial and scientific study news:
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A team of head and neck surgeons from Mayo Clinic found robotic surgery can treat cancer in the narrow, hard-to-reach area beyond the tongue at the top of the voice box. Some patients were able to avoid further treatment with chemotherapy or radiation, and most could resume normal eating and speaking.
Read more - Mammography detects smaller tumors with less nodal involvement than exams in women 50
Screening mammography benefits women between 40 and 49 years of age, and excluding this population from annual exams under the revised Preventative Service Task Force (USPSTF) mammography guidelines would negatively impact survival, according to research presented this week at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting. A 10-year retrospective study conducted at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO found that mammography detected smaller tumors with less nodal metastasis than identified through clinical (manual) breast exams among women in this age group.
Read more - Study: FFR improves health while reducing costs
St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE:STJ) announced that an analysis of the benefits to using a Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR)-guided intervention strategy found that the technology can improve patient outcomes while saving millions of Euros. The analysis demonstrates that routine use of FFR could reduce the number of deaths and heart attacks of German citizens while also saving a potential €14 million ($20.8 million) in 2011 and 2012.
Read more - USHIFU touts results from trial on Sonablate HIFU as a treatment for prostate cancer
USHIFU LLC (US HIFU), a maker of minimally invasive high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) technologies, announced results from the first-ever prospective clinical investigation of HIFU with its Sonablate (Sonablate HIFU) to focally treat prostate cancer, a modality in which only the confirmed cancerous regions within the gland are treated as opposed to the entire prostate. Results from the study were published in Journal of Urology.
Read more - Entellus touts study on XprESS treatment for chronic sinusitis
Results presented by during the annual Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meeting in Chicago demonstrate that Entellus Medical’s XprESS Multi-Sinus Dilation Tool may be used safely and with a high technical success rate in conjunction with traditional functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) tools to treat patients with chronic sinusitis. Further, one-month data show patients experience a statistically significant improvement in quality of life related to their sinusitis symptoms.
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