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Argus® II Retinal Stimulation System Feasibility Protocol

Argus® II Retinal Stimulation System Feasibility Protocol

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT00407602
Enrollment
30
Registered
2006-12-05
Start date
2006-09-30
Completion date
2019-12-31
Last updated
2022-01-20

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Retinitis Pigmentosa

Keywords

retinitis pigmentosa, device, retinal implant, retinal prosthesis, RP, outer retinal degeneration

Brief summary

Investigational Phase of the Study: The objective of this feasibility study is to evaluate the safety and utility of the Argus II Retinal Stimulation System in providing visual function to blind subjects with retinitis pigmentosa. Post-Approval Phase of the Study: To collect post-approval data in order to monitor the ongoing safety and reliability of the Argus II System

Detailed description

During the post-approval phase, subjects will undergo annual eye exams, assessments of medical status and adverse events, and measurement of stimulation thresholds. In addition, at the mutual agreement of the investigator and the subject, subjects will have the option of participating in psychophysical research which could occur as frequently as monthly. Functional tests at 10 years: photographic flash, square localization, direction of motion and grating visual acuity.

Interventions

DEVICEImplant of Argus II Retinal Prosthesis

epiretinal implantation of device

Sponsors

National Eye Institute (NEI)
CollaboratorNIH
Second Sight Medical Products
Lead SponsorINDUSTRY

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* A confirmed history of retinitis pigmentosa (all centers) or outer retinal degeneration (France, U.K., Switzerland, Mexico only) with remaining visual acuity of bare light perception (all centers) or 2.3 logMAR (France, U.K., Switzerland, Mexico only) or worse in both eyes. * Functional ganglion cells and optic nerve as determined by a measurable electrically evoked response or documented light perception. * A history of former useful form vision in the worse-seeing eye. * Must be at least the following age at the time of enrollment: 25 (USA, Switzerland) or 18 (France, U.K., and Mexico) years old * Must reside within 2 hours (USA, UK and Mexico) or 3 hours (France and Switzerland) distance (by ground transportation) of the investigational site. * Must be willing and able to comply with the protocol testing and follow-up requirements.

Exclusion criteria

* Optic Nerve disease * History of glaucoma * Optic neuropathy or other confirmed damage to optic nerve or visual cortex damage * Diseases or conditions that effect retinal function including but not limited to: * Central retinal artery/vein occlusion (CRAO or CRVO) * End-stage diabetic retinopathy * Retinal detachment or history of retinal detachment * Trauma * Infectious or inflammatory retinal diseases * Diseases or conditions that prevent adequate visualization of the retina including, but not limited to corneal degeneration that cannot be resolved before implant. * Diseases or conditions of the anterior segment that prevent the ability to adequately perform the physical examination including but not limited to trauma or lid malpositions. * Diseases of the ocular surface including but not limited to keratitis sicca. * An ocular condition that predisposes the subject to eye rubbing. * Any disease or condition that prevents understanding or communication of informed consent, study demands, and testing protocols, including: * Cognitive decline including diagnosed forms of dementia and/or progressive neurological disease * Psychiatric Disease including diagnosed forms of depression * Does not speak a principal language associated with the region * Deafness or selective frequency hearing loss that prevents hearing device alarms and alerts. * Pregnancy * Subject has another active implantable device (e.g. cochlear implant), or any form of metallic implant in the head * Conjunctival thinning which may predispose the subject to conjunctival erosion in the area where the implant will be installed extra-ocularly. * Subject is participating in another investigational drug or device study that may conflict with the objectives, follow-up or testing of this study * Any health concern that makes general anesthesia inadvisable. * Subject has unrealistic expectations of the implant. * Known allergy or contraindication to anticipated pre-operative, intra-operative or post-operative medications. * Conditions likely to limit life to less than 1 year from the time of screening. * Diseases or conditions that, in the judgement of the surgeon, impede the ability to implant the device or would prevent the system from functioning for the duration of the study (e.g. strabismus) * Axial eye length \<21.5 mm or \>26.0 mm in the implanted eye as measured by ultrasound (US only)

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Visual Acuity10 yearsGrating Visual Acuity is performed at Baseline and at various timepoints throughout the study. As of the 10 year final testing, the total number of subjects that were able to score on the logMAR scale are indicated below. The device has a scale from 1.6 to 2.9 logMAR. Maximum likelihood estimation of visual acuity is based on BEST-PEST algorithm.
Number of Participants With Adverse Events10 yearsEvaluate ocular adverse events reported for all subjects from day of implant through 10 years of study participation

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Massof Activity Inventory3 yearsThe Massof Activity Inventory measures changes in ability to perform activities of daily living in terms of Goals and Tasks in logits (log-odds units). A logit scale is an equal interval linear scale that represents probability values in terms of real numbers. There is no minimum or maximum scale used in this testing. In this case, a Rasch distribution (using an Andrich rating model) was used to find the maximum likelihood of difficulty of achieving Goals and Tasks, represented in logits. The change in mean logit value between baseline and the 36Month visit for each subject are provided below along with the 95% confidence interval (CI) for the change. A positive change in the Goals or Tasks score which is greater than 0.2 (with a CI less than the mean logit value), is interpreted as a clinically significant increase in functional ability (better outcome).
Quality of Life - Tasks for Daily Living3 yearsQuality of life is being measured using the VisQOL survey. This instrument, developed by researchers at the University of Melbourne, Australia, is a vision and quality of life-related utility measure intended to evaluate healthcare interventions for the visually impaired. The utility score is a preference-based measure of vision-related quality of life (Dimension 7 score (Health Dimension Score (1=Best, 0=Worst)). It measures subjective quality of life on a scale of 0 to 1, where 0 represents worst possible quality of life and 1 represents perfect quality of life.
Orientation and Mobility5 yearsArgus II System for orientation and mobility, each subject completed two tests (walking to a high-contrast door on the wall and following a straight line on the floor) at various timepoints throughout the study. Accuracy (percent of trials where the subject successfully reached the target) was measured with the device system ON and system OFF. Average % success rates across the analysis population are provided for each modality and for each test at the 60 month time point.
Visual Function10 yearsSquare localization (SL) and Direction of Motion (DOM) testing performed at specific protocol intervals. SL tests ability of subjects to locate high-contrast square on black screen. DOM tests ability of subjects to determine the direction a white bar is moving over a black screen. Each test is performed with the system ON and then compared to performance with the system OFF. Number of subjects who performed significantly better with the system ON is indicated below.
Stability of Implant - 5 Years Post Implant5 yearsStability of electrode array on the retina. Qualitative review of imaging: retinal and array landmarks compared from all time points post implant.
Device Reliability10 yearsNumber of participants with functional devices 10 years post implant

Countries

France, Mexico, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Implant of Argus II Retinal Prosthesis
This is a single group study where the status and performance of the implanted eye prior to surgery serves as the comparator. Argus II Retinal Stimulation System: epiretinal implantation of device
30
Total30

Withdrawals & dropouts

PeriodReasonFG000
Overall StudyDeath - unrelated to device1
Overall StudyDevice explanted5
Overall StudyWithdrawal by Subject1

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicImplant of Argus II Retinal Prosthesis
Age, Categorical
<=18 years
0 Participants
Age, Categorical
>=65 years
6 Participants
Age, Categorical
Between 18 and 65 years
24 Participants
Age, Continuous58.3 years
Race and Ethnicity Not Collected— Participants
Region of Enrollment
France
4 participants
Region of Enrollment
Switzerland
2 participants
Region of Enrollment
United Kingdom
10 participants
Region of Enrollment
United States
14 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
9 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
21 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
1 / 30
other
Total, other adverse events
28 / 30
serious
Total, serious adverse events
13 / 30

Outcome results

Primary

Number of Participants With Adverse Events

Evaluate ocular adverse events reported for all subjects from day of implant through 10 years of study participation

Time frame: 10 years

ArmMeasureGroupValue (NUMBER)
Single ArmNumber of Participants With Adverse EventsTotal number of subjects with serious ocular AEs13 participants
Single ArmNumber of Participants With Adverse EventsTotal number of subjects with non-serious ocular AEs28 participants
Primary

Visual Acuity

Grating Visual Acuity is performed at Baseline and at various timepoints throughout the study. As of the 10 year final testing, the total number of subjects that were able to score on the logMAR scale are indicated below. The device has a scale from 1.6 to 2.9 logMAR. Maximum likelihood estimation of visual acuity is based on BEST-PEST algorithm.

Time frame: 10 years

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Single ArmVisual Acuity2 Participants
Secondary

Device Reliability

Number of participants with functional devices 10 years post implant

Time frame: 10 years

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Single ArmDevice Reliability28 Participants
Secondary

Massof Activity Inventory

The Massof Activity Inventory measures changes in ability to perform activities of daily living in terms of Goals and Tasks in logits (log-odds units). A logit scale is an equal interval linear scale that represents probability values in terms of real numbers. There is no minimum or maximum scale used in this testing. In this case, a Rasch distribution (using an Andrich rating model) was used to find the maximum likelihood of difficulty of achieving Goals and Tasks, represented in logits. The change in mean logit value between baseline and the 36Month visit for each subject are provided below along with the 95% confidence interval (CI) for the change. A positive change in the Goals or Tasks score which is greater than 0.2 (with a CI less than the mean logit value), is interpreted as a clinically significant increase in functional ability (better outcome).

Time frame: 3 years

Population: Data for all 14 US subjects analyzed

ArmMeasureGroupValue (MEAN)
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS12-Tasks-0.3 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS12-Goals0.0 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS13-Goals0.5 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventorySubject1-Goals-0.1 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS2-Goals1.0 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS3-Goals0.3 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS4-Goals0.1 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS5-Goals0.1 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS6-Goals-0.2 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS7-Goals-1.6 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS8-Goals0.9 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS9-Goals0.2 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS10-Goals-0.3 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS11-Goals0.1 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS14 -GoalsNA Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS1-Tasks0.4 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS2-Tasks-0.2 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS3-Tasks0.4 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS4-Tasks-0.1 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS5-Tasks0.6 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS6-Tasks0.2 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS7-Tasks-0.3 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS8-Tasks2.0 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS9-Tasks0.8 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS10-Tasks-0.4 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS11-Tasks-0.2 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS13-Tasks0.2 Logit scale
Single ArmMassof Activity InventoryS14-TasksNA Logit scale
Secondary

Orientation and Mobility

Argus II System for orientation and mobility, each subject completed two tests (walking to a high-contrast door on the wall and following a straight line on the floor) at various timepoints throughout the study. Accuracy (percent of trials where the subject successfully reached the target) was measured with the device system ON and system OFF. Average % success rates across the analysis population are provided for each modality and for each test at the 60 month time point.

Time frame: 5 years

Population: Data for all 14 US subjects analyzed

ArmMeasureGroupValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Single ArmOrientation and MobilityAverage % system ON-Door Task58 percentage of successful trialsStandard Deviation 24
Single ArmOrientation and MobilityAverage % system OFF-Door Task18 percentage of successful trialsStandard Deviation 19
Single ArmOrientation and MobilityAverage % system ON-Line Task68 percentage of successful trialsStandard Deviation 36
Single ArmOrientation and MobilityAverage % system OFF-Line Task10 percentage of successful trialsStandard Deviation 13
Secondary

Quality of Life - Tasks for Daily Living

Quality of life is being measured using the VisQOL survey. This instrument, developed by researchers at the University of Melbourne, Australia, is a vision and quality of life-related utility measure intended to evaluate healthcare interventions for the visually impaired. The utility score is a preference-based measure of vision-related quality of life (Dimension 7 score (Health Dimension Score (1=Best, 0=Worst)). It measures subjective quality of life on a scale of 0 to 1, where 0 represents worst possible quality of life and 1 represents perfect quality of life.

Time frame: 3 years

Population: 30 subjects were analyzed comparing Baseline visit to the last visit when VisQOL was performed.

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Single ArmQuality of Life - Tasks for Daily Living.6191 units on a scaleStandard Deviation 0.2146
Secondary

Stability of Implant - 5 Years Post Implant

Stability of electrode array on the retina. Qualitative review of imaging: retinal and array landmarks compared from all time points post implant.

Time frame: 5 years

Population: Data for all 14 US subjects analyzed

ArmMeasureGroupValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Single ArmStability of Implant - 5 Years Post ImplantInconclusive data1 Participants
Single ArmStability of Implant - 5 Years Post ImplantStable position of array on Array position stable-no rotation8 Participants
Single ArmStability of Implant - 5 Years Post ImplantMinor array rotation5 Participants
Secondary

Visual Function

Square localization (SL) and Direction of Motion (DOM) testing performed at specific protocol intervals. SL tests ability of subjects to locate high-contrast square on black screen. DOM tests ability of subjects to determine the direction a white bar is moving over a black screen. Each test is performed with the system ON and then compared to performance with the system OFF. Number of subjects who performed significantly better with the system ON is indicated below.

Time frame: 10 years

Population: Data available only on 13 of the 14 US subjects

ArmMeasureGroupValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Single ArmVisual FunctionSL - Number of subjects with significantly better with system ON9 Participants
Single ArmVisual FunctionDOM - Number of subjects with significantly better with system ON4 Participants

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 30, 2026