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.