As Second Sight Medical Products teetered on the verge of bankruptcy and abandoned its visual implant technology, hundreds of its patients have been left at risk of losing the implants that allows them to see, IEEE Spectrum reported Feb. 15.
The more than 350 patients around the world with the artificial vision technology implanted in their eyes know that if the technology breaks or needs upgrading, their sight will likely be lost forever.
Second Sight discontinued its retinal implant in 2019, sending patients a letter stating it would phase out the technology to focus on brain implants for blindness. Despite assuring patients it would maintain full customer service and rehab specialists, the company almost collapsed and auctioned off most of its physical assets without informing patients, according to IEEE. The company recently announced a proposed merger with biopharmaceutical company Nano Precision Medical.
"In addition to advancing NPM's drug implant portfolio, the company will continue to explore opportunities intended to create artificial forms of useful vision for the profoundly blind," Second Sight said in a Feb. 7 press release, citing continued studies for its brain implant.
"Those of us with this implant are figuratively and literally in the dark," wrote one patient, Ross Doerr. Mr. Doerr was unable to receive MRI treatment given the dangers of the magnetic frequencies interacting with his device.
Another patient, Jeroen Perk, had to scour Second Sight forums to find out if anyone had spare parts to fix his broken video processing unit.
Second Sight told IEEE in a statement that because of its financial difficulties and reduced workforce, the company "was unable to continue the previous level of support and communication" for users of its old technology. IEEE noted that repairs and replacements are no longer possible for the implants.
The experience of many Second Sight patients may serve as a cautionary tale for trialing novel, innovative technology, IEEE noted.
Read the full report here.