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Age-Related Macular degeneration is the leading cause of adult blindness, but Stanford University research ophthalmologists have developed an electronic retinal implant that promises to restore sight to millions.  

Their device, nicknamed PRIMA standing for photovoltaic retina implant microarray, includes a subretinal wireless implant and wearable video camera.  The camera, mounted on an eyeglass frame, detects an image.  That image is converted by a pocket processor into infrared laser light signals that are directed through the lens of the eye to the implant under the retina.  The implant, in turn, creates the neural electrical  signals that restore sight. The implant is entirely light-powered and requires no external power supply.

This PRIMA system underwent a multisite, primary clinical trial at Stanford, the University of Pittsburgh, and Germany’s University of Bonn.  A remarkable 27 of 32 implanted patients, 84%, regained the ability to read books, labels, and even street signs.  Some could even correctly make out some of the smallest lines on a standard eye chart.  The vision is black and white.

Further refinement of the PRIMA chip is underway that promises a higher resolution and a refined grayscale.  No word yet as to whether this system will restore full color vision, but bioengineering ingenuity might just achieve that result…..someday soon.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/10/251022023118.htm#google_vignette

https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2501396

#blindness #maculardegeneration #amd #prima #retinalimplant