Experts hail ‘remarkable’ success of electronic implant in restoring sight | Medical research

An electronic eye implant half the thickness of a human hair has helped people suffering from incurable vision loss regain their sight, ushering in a potential “new era” in the fight against blindness.

Doctors who implanted the SIM card-shaped prosthetics say they helped many of the 38 elderly patients taking part in the trial regain their ability to read letters, numbers and words.

“In the history of machine vision, this represents a new era,” said Mahi Muqit, senior consultant at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, one of 17 sites involved.

“Blind patients can actually benefit from significant restoration of their central vision, which has never been done before. Regaining the ability to read is a major improvement in their quality of life, improves their mood and helps them regain their confidence and independence.”

The trial found that 84% of participants were able to read letters, numbers and words again after being fitted with the implant, called the Prima device.

Ophthalmologists hailed the results as “remarkable” and said the device could help people with the “dry” form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of vision loss in over-50s.

Moorfields said: “The revolutionary new implant is the first ever device to allow people to read letters, numbers and words through an eye that has lost sight. »

All 38 patients had geographic atrophy with dry AMD, which over time progressively deprives vision and for which there is no treatment. Most people with this condition lose some of their central vision, and in some cases this progresses to complete loss of vision as the cells in the macula die and the central macula melts.

All had lost their central vision and had limited peripheral vision before having the device implanted in an operation that lasted less than two hours. Five were treated at Moorfields and the others in hospitals in Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands.

Sheila Wilson from Wiltshire, one of those who had the chip implanted at Moorfields, said: “Before I had the implant it felt like I had two black discs in my eye, with the outside distorted. I was a keen bookworm and wanted to get that back. There was no pain during the operation but you are always aware of what is happening.

“It made a big difference. It’s a new way of looking through your eyes and it was very exciting when I started seeing a letter. It’s not easy, learning to read again, but the more hours I put into it, the more I learn.”

The Prima device, an ultrathin microchip measuring just 2mm by 2mm, is inserted under the center of the eye’s retina in a procedure known as a vitrectomy.

To help them see and write, patients were given augmented reality glasses containing a video camera connected to a small computer, which they attached to their belts. It included a zoom feature to enlarge the text and make it easier to read.

Patients can use the glasses to focus and scan the object in the projected image they wish to read. The glasses project the scenes as an infrared beam through the chip, which activates the device. Artificial intelligence installed in the belt’s computer processes the information and converts it into an electrical signal that passes through the cells of the retina and optic nerve to the brain.

Muqit emphasized that patients need to undergo intensive training and rehabilitation of their eye in order to benefit from the benefits of the technology.

“It’s not like you put a chip in your eye and then you can see again. You have to learn to use that type of vision,” he said.

The results of the trial are published in the New England Journal of Medicine.