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Breakthrough Retinal Chip Restores Reading Vision in Medical First
London – October 21, 2025 – In a landmark achievement for medical science, an international team of researchers has successfully restored functional reading vision to patients blinded by a common form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The breakthrough, described as a "new era in artificial vision," utilizes a revolutionary prosthetic eye chip that has enabled the majority of trial participants to read letters, numbers, and words for the first time in years.
The groundbreaking European clinical trial, with results published in The New England Journal of Medicine, focused on patients with geographic atrophy (GA), the advanced and previously untreatable "dry" form of AMD. The study, which included a team from Moorfields Eye Hospital and University College London (UCL), found that 84% of the 38 participants regained the ability to read using the new device.
A New Generation of Bionic Eye
At the heart of this success is the PRIMA System, a pioneering photovoltaic retinal implant. The device is a wireless microchip, just 2mm wide and half the thickness of a human hair, which is surgically placed beneath the patient's retina.
Unlike previous bionic eye technologies, the PRIMA chip requires no complex wiring. It functions in tandem with a pair of augmented-reality glasses equipped with a high-definition camera.
Here is how the system works:
* The camera in the glasses captures the visual world in real-time.
* This visual information is processed and projected from the glasses as a beam of near-infrared light onto the implant.
* The chip, acting like a miniature solar panel, converts this light energy into electrical signals.
* These signals then stimulate the retina's surviving nerve cells, which transmit the visual information along the optic nerve to the brain, effectively bypassing the damaged photoreceptor cells.
Dr. Mahi Muqit, a senior consultant surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital and the lead UK surgeon in the trial, hailed the results. "Blind patients are actually able to have meaningful central vision restoration, which has never been done before," Dr. Muqit stated. "Getting back the ability to read is a major improvement in their quality of life, lifts their mood, and helps to restore their confidence and independence."
On average, patients in the trial saw their visual acuity improve by five lines on a standard eye chart, a clinically significant restoration of sight.
"It Was Dead Exciting"
For patients like Sheila Irvine, a participant in the trial at Moorfields, the device has been life-changing. After losing her central vision to AMD, the avid reader was left unable to enjoy her passion.
Following the procedure and a period of rehabilitation to learn to use the new form of vision, Ms. Irvine began to see again. "It's a new way of looking through your eyes, and it was dead exciting when I began seeing a letter," she shared. "Reading takes you into another world, and I'm definitely more optimistic now."
The PRIMA System represents a significant evolution from earlier retinal prosthetics, offering a higher-resolution image and a less invasive, light-powered design. This medical first provides a tangible hope for millions worldwide affected by dry AMD, a leading cause of inc
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