Nerac Analyst Richard Hendriks, Ph.D., will present a session titled, “Retinal Implants Open the Shutters on Blindness ,” at the ASME Emerging Technologies’ 4th Frontiers in Biomedical Devices Conference in Irvine, CA, June 8–9, 2009. The presentation addresses the challenges of restoring sight, which are immense, and the advances in this area which go hand in hand with advances in technology. As is the case with most electrical prostheses, these advances cross many scientific disciplines, from biophysics to electrical engineering. Of equal importance is the surgical aspect of being able to successfully implant such devices. Dr. Hendriks will discuss two approaches being employed; the subretinal implant, and the epiretinal implant.  It is noteworthy that close to 300 patents have been filed and granted on this topic. Over the past 12 months, 26 patents were filed or granted naming various assignees, such as the Doheny Eye Institute, Neurosystec Corporation, IMI Intelligent Medical Implants AG, Retina Implant GMBH, Second Sight Medical Products Inc., W.C.Heraeus GMBH & Co., and NewCyte, Inc., to name a few. The presentation will review patenting trends over the past few years and explore recent patent publications by a select few companies on the subject of retinal implants to convey some of the latest research efforts and interesting advances in this area. Some key points to be covered in the presentation include: 1. Different approaches to retinal implants 2. A review of patenting trends around these technologies 3. A review of patent publications by a select few companies in this  area 4. An overview of how this activity impacts the research efforts and advances in this area