Revolutionary Implant Restores Patients’ Vision

The future of vision is here.

A group of patients with dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) are now able to read again after being fitted with a ground-breaking implant at the back of their eye.

The trial took place at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, with the surgeon who carried out the operation calling the results “astounding”. Shelia Irvine, 70, who is registered as legally blind, had the operation and is now able to read and do crosswords again.

This revolutionary technology brings hope to people with advanced AMD, also known as geographic atrophy (GA), which affects more than 250,000 people in the UK and 5 million worldwide.

Dry AMD (atrophic AMD) is caused by a build-up of fatty substances called drusen at the back of the eyes. This is the more common type of AMD. There are 3 stages of Dry AMD: early, intermediate, and late. Dry AMD will get worse gradually, usually over several years. There is no treatment unless it develops into Wet AMD.

For more information about AMD, read our full guide on the topic here.

A New Era of Eye Technology

The PRIMA System, the first implantable device to enable people to read using an eye that had lost sight, works by converting light into signals that healthy retinal cells can send to the brain.

The new procedure involves inserting a tiny 2mm square photovoltaic microchip, as thin as a human hair, under the retina.

Patients then use specialised glasses with a built-in video camera. The camera sends an infrared beam of video images to the implant at the back of the eye, which sends them on to a small pocket processor to be enhanced and made clearer.

The images are then sent back to the patient’s brain via the implant and optic nerve, giving them some vision again. The patients must then learn how to interpret the images.

Mahi Muqit, consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, who led the UK arm of the trial, spoke to the BBC and said “it was pioneering and life-changing technology”.

“This is the first implant that’s been demonstrated to give patients meaningful vision that they can use in their daily life, such as reading and writing. I think this is a major advance”.

Five patients underwent the surgery to receive the PRIMA implant as part of the trial at Moorfields, with 38 patients participating in the study across five other European countries. These patients had no central vision before taking part; however, 84.4% of those on the trial regained the ability to read letters, numbers, and words.

The Future

The PRIMA implant is not yet licensed, so it is not available outside of clinical trials, and it’s unclear how much it may eventually cost. It’s possible the technology could be used to help people with other eye conditions in the future.

The trials are not expected to help those with conditions where the optic nerve, which sends signals from the retina to the brain, is not functioning.