Life-changing eye implant helps blind patients read again

A group of blind patients can now read again after being fitted with a life-changing implant in the back of their eye.

A surgeon who inserted the microchips into five patients at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London said the results of the international trial were “staggering”.

Sheila Irvine, 70, who was declared blind, told the BBC it was “out of this world” to be able to read and do crosswords again. “It’s beautiful, wonderful. It makes me so happy.”

The technology offers hope to people with an advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), called geographic atrophy (GA), which affects more than 250,000 people in the UK and five million worldwide.

In people with this condition – more common in older people – cells in a small area of ​​the retina at the back of the eye are gradually damaged and die, resulting in blurred or distorted central vision. Color and fine details are often lost.

The new procedure involves inserting a tiny 2mm square photovoltaic chip, the thickness of a human hair, under the retina.

Patients then put on 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 to a small handheld processor to enhance them and make them clearer.

The images are then sent back to the patient’s brain, via the implant and the optic nerve, thus restoring some vision.

Patients spent months learning to interpret the images.

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

“This is the first implant that has been shown to give patients meaningful vision that they can use in their daily lives, such as reading and writing.

“I think it’s a major step forward,” he said.

For this study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 38 patients suffering from geographic atrophy in five European countries participated in the trial of the Prima implant, manufactured by the California biotech Science Corporation.

Of 32 patients who received the implant, 27 were able to reread using their central vision. After a year, this amounted to an improvement of 25 letters, or five lines, on an eye chart.

For Sheila, from Wiltshire, the improvement is even more dramatic. Without an implant, she is completely unable to read.

But when we filmed Sheila reading an eye test at Moorfields Hospital, she made no mistakes. After finishing it, she punched the air and clapped.

The task required enormous concentration. Sheila had to put a pillow under her chin to stabilize the camera feed, which can focus on one or two letters at a time. At times, she needed the device to switch to magnification mode, particularly to distinguish the letters C and O.

Sheila began losing her central vision over 30 years ago, due to cell loss in the retina. She describes her vision as having two black discs in each eye.

Sheila walks with a white cane because her very limited peripheral vision is completely blurred. She is unable to read even the largest street signs when outside.

When she had to give up her driver’s license, she says she cried.

But after having an implant fitted around three years ago, she is delighted with her progress, as are the medical team at Moorfields.

“I am able to read my articles, my books and do crosswords and Sudoku,” she says.

Asked if she thought she had proofread, Sheila replied: “Not on your Nelly!”

“It’s amazing. I’m a happy bunny,” she adds.

“Technology is changing so fast, it’s amazing that I’m a part of it.”

Sheila does not wear the device when she is outside. This is partly because it requires great concentration: your head must remain very still to read. She also doesn’t want to become too dependent on this device.

Instead, she says she “speeds through her chores” at home each day before sitting down and putting on the special glasses.

The Prima implant is not yet licensed and therefore not available outside of clinical trials, and it is unclear how much it could eventually cost.

However, Mahi Muqit said he hoped the system would be available to some NHS patients “within a few years”.

It is possible that the technology will be used in the future to help people with other eye conditions.

Dr Peter Bloomfield, director of research at the Macular Society, says the results are “encouraging” and “fantastic” for those who currently have no treatment options.

“Machine vision can offer great hope to many, especially after previous disappointments in the world of dry AMD treatment.

“We are now closely monitoring whether the Prima implant will be approved for use here in the UK and, importantly, whether it could be made available on the NHS.”

The implant would not help restore sight to people born blind, because they do not have a functioning optic nerve to transmit signals to the brain.