Cortigent, Inc.
US (Valencia, CA) company, wholly-owned subsidiary of Vivani Medical; successor to Second Sight Medical Products. Carries the Argus II (retinal) legacy and the Orion Visual Cortical Prosthesis — the only cortical device with chronic human feasibility data.
Key facts
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Formed 2023 to continue Second Sight’s neurostimulation programs (Argus II + Orion); CEO Jonathan Adams; lead neuroscientist Uday Patel, PhD; S-1 filed for Nasdaq (ticker CRGT); “only company to have obtained FDA approval of a device providing artificial vision for the profoundly blind” (Argus II, FDA 2013; CE 2011).
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Argus II (epiretinal, 60 electrodes): approved 2013, discontinued 2019, patients unsupported — the canonical cautionary tale; Cortigent discontinued it to focus on Orion.1
The abandonment in detail (IEEE Spectrum, Feb 2022): Second Sight sold Argus II at ~497,000 with surgery + rehab) but lost money on every unit. On 18 Jul 2019, patients were told the retinal implant was being phased out for Orion; internally, support stopped. In Mar 2020, Second Sight laid off most staff and announced wind-down — without notifying patients. >350 implantees worldwide were stranded: Barbara Campbell’s implant died in a NYC subway and never worked again; Ross Doerr couldn’t get an MRI (Second Sight wasn’t answering); Jeroen Perk crowd-sourced a replacement VPU from other patients. The FDA postapproval study (30 patients, 2007–2019) recorded 36 serious adverse events; Spectrum’s MAUDE analysis (90 reports, 2014–2020) found ~80% needed surgical intervention, ~15% detached retinas. A researcher whose study showed “weakness” in vision quality says Second Sight blocked publication. In Feb 2022, Second Sight announced a merger with Nano Precision Medical; NPM’s CEO called the past “simply not relevant to the new future.” The Orion trial (6 patients, NIH $6.4M) also faced uncertainty — one patient had the cortical implant explanted for MRI access. 2
Orion (cortical)
- 60 micro-electrodes on the surface of the visual cortex; wirelessly powered/ controlled implantable pulse generator; belt processor converts video from camera glasses into wireless stimulation commands; elicits phosphenes.
- Early Feasibility Study: 6 subjects implanted Jan 2018–Jan 2019 (Rush/UT
Southwestern sites; NIH-funded UH3NS103442); study concluded Mar 2025; results
presented NANS Jan 2026 (PI Nader Pouratian, UT Southwestern) + “Eye and the Chip”
Sep 2025 (5-yr).
- All devices functional at 6 years; <4% electrode loss.
- All subjects improved with system on vs off (square detection, motion detection); all FLORA positive or mild positive.
- 4 subjects’ devices safely explanted (3 after 3-yr visits, 1 at study end).
- 1 SAE (early seizure); stimulation adjusted, no further SAEs.
- Target: profoundly blind from many causes — >82,000 Americans (company-sponsored report); pivotal study planning.
Related pages
- retinal-prosthesis-companies — Argus II row (retinal legacy)
- cortical-visual-prosthesis, visual-prosthesis, cortical-visual-prosthesis-companies
- revision-implant — the deep-array challenger
- science-corp — the commercial (retinal) counterpart
References
- Vivani Medical press release (Jan 29, 2026, NANS); Cortigent news (Sep 2025).
- Bionic Vision spotlight: Ceyssens interview (2025) for lessons learned.