Second Sight Medical announced this week that it landed a financial contract with the French Ministry of Health to provide funding for the 1st wave of patients in the country to receive treatment with the Argus II vision system.

The French government will pay for 36 patients to receive the technology, which is comprised of an eyeglass-mounted camera and an electrical stimulator implanted in the eye. The device converts images into a series of electrical pulses that are transmitted wirelessly to electrodes in the retina to simulate vision in patients with retinitis pigmentosa, a disease that causes incurable blindness.

Second Sight won the contract through France’s Forfait Innovation program for introducing innovation new technologies in the country. Treatment will begin next month at 3 French hospitals, according to a company statement.

"We have standardized the treatment pathway for retinitis pigmentosa through a custom design for patients with severe to complete sight loss," Second Sight Europe vice president Gregoire Cosendai said in prepared remarks. "It is increasingly available in European countries and we are happy to be able to offer the routine procedure in France."

The device maker has notched a series of significant milestones lately, including filing registration papers for an initial public offering worth up to $32 million. Second Sight won FDA approval in February 2013 for its Argus II retinal prosthesis, won Medicare coverage in August and landed additional funding from regulators in Germany and Italy just days later. The 1st U.S. commercial implants of the device took place in January.