Dr. Kokame, founder and president of Retina Consultants of Hawaii, and the president of the Eye Surgery Center of Hawaii says:
"Today is a historical day for many reasons. This 'bionic eye' implant has the potential to restore vision to patients, who have been in total or near total darkness. This can dramatically change the quality of life of these patients."
"I have been involved in the care of hereditary blindness since the beginning of my career in Ophthalmology at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute," he adds. "I have watched patients progressively lose vision, but this new futuristic technology is now available to allow potential vision recovery to patients who are functionally blind."
World's first approved vision-restoring device
"We are excited to bring this life-changing technology to Hawaii residents and to the Asia-Pacific region," comments Dr. Hank Wuh, CEO of SKAI Ventures. "As the leading center of excellence for vision surgery, we hope to help people with retinal blindness throughout the region."
The "bionic eye," known officially as the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System (Argus II), is the world's first approved device intended to restore some functional vision for people suffering from blindness. The Argus II, developed at USC, has shown dramatic clinical results to help patients with retinal blindness be able to utilize artificial vision to see.
Argus II is approved for use in the United States and the European Economic Area and is available in European countries and the Middle East.
The implantation of the Argus II novel vision-restoring device at the Eye Surgery Center of Hawaii is the first time the procedure has been performed in the Asia-Pacific region. The Eye Surgery Center of Hawaii is also only the second center in the western US to perform the procedure - the first being USC.