An implantable visual prosthetic for end-stage macular degeneration

Abstract

End-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is defined as either bilateral advanced central geographic atrophy or untreatable disciform scarring from neovascular AMD. Profound loss of central vision leads to a dramatic reduction in quality of life for the 1.75 million individuals in the USA with diagnosed AMD. Despite novel therapies for patients with active neovascular AMD, there exists no treatment for end-stage AMD. The Implantable Miniature Telescope™ prosthesis received US FDA approval in July 2010 for treating severe-to-profound vision impairment (20/160 to 20/800 visual acuity) caused by bilateral central scotomas associated with end-stage AMD. The visual prosthetic is implanted into the lens capsule after cataract extraction to improve vision by reducing the size of the patient’s central scotoma in the implanted eye. Peripheral vision is maintained through the fellow eye. Results from a large multicenter clinical trial demonstrated that the visual prosthetic provided a ≥two-line improvement in visual acuity in over 90% of patients with an accompanying improvement in quality of life.

Keywords::

• age-related macular degeneration
• geographic atrophy
• Implantable Miniature Telescope
• visual prosthetic
• visual rehabilitation

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.