[NJTechDiv] tiny implant helps legally blind

[Mario Brusco]

A Tiny Eye Implant Is Helping Legally Blind Patients Read Again — Here’s How

https://www.zmescience.com/future/a-tiny-eye-implant-is-helping-legally-blind-patients-read-again-heres-how/

by Tibi Puiu, October 30, 2024.

For years, these patients’ worlds had shrunk, their central vision faded 
to shadows and blur. But in a modest trial room in California, a new 
technology
brought unexpected light. When Max Hodak, CEO of Science Corporation, 
watched a video of a legally blind patient reading once more, he was 
floored. It
marked a leap in restoring vision, and the promise of a breakthrough. 
This tiny chip implant named Prima could mean life-changing clarity for 
the millions whose sight has been darkened by age.

No larger than a grain of salt, the implant was developed by a Science 
Corporation in California. This device acts as a replacement for damaged 
retinal cells that light up our world and define our center of sight. 
People with age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, know all too well 
the devastation of losing that central vision. It robs them of faces, 
the comfort of words on a page, and even the safety of seeing clearly in 
dim light. But Prima promises to restore
a glimpse of what’s been lost — and recent trial results seem to back up 
this promise.

A New Vision

AMD begins quietly, as cells in the retina, which converts light into 
signals for the brain, start to deteriorate. Over time, this 
degenerative disease
blurs the middle of one’s sight, making it hard to focus on letters or 
identify faces. For millions, these photoreceptors fade away.

The Prima implant aims to fill in that area of darkness. To picture it, 
imagine a set of digital glasses outfitted with a miniature camera. This 
device
captures the world in pixels, relaying information through infrared 
light to the microchip implanted directly beneath the patient’s retina. 
Nearly 400
tiny pixels convert this incoming light into electrical signals, sending 
them to the brain. Suddenly, objects take shape.

Hodak, who used to be the former president of Neuralink (a startup owned 
by Elon Musk focused on making brain implants), marvels at what his 
team’s implant
has achieved. “To my knowledge, this is the first time that restoration 
of the ability to fluently read has ever been definitively shown in 
blind patients,” he says.

Reading Again, Even in Dim Light

Prima has so far been implanted in 32 people who are still part of an 
ongoing clinical trial. They were once all legally blind. Now, thanks to 
this new
implant, they’re seeing five extra lines on the standard eye exam chart, 
transforming their lives in remarkable ways. From an initial vision of 
20/450
(legally blind in the US), some now read closer to 20/160. The best 
performers, aided by the device’s zoom and magnification feature, even 
reach 20/63—a
visual acuity unimaginable to them before the trial.

One participant can now read from a book, play cards, and even tackle a 
crossword puzzle — activities that were out of reach just months ago. 
The ability
to perceive shapes and objects isn’t the same as “natural” vision, but 
it’s a life-altering shift.

But Prima is still imperfect. The implant’s images are in grayscale with 
a yellowish tint. Patients also need to engage the zoom feature to focus 
on fine
details. Some might find this process of “seeing” less intuitive than 
natural sight, but most patients adapted quickly.

A Vision for the Future

For those whose lives were once dimmed by AMD, the implant offers the 
rarest of things: a restoration of independence. Yet Prima’s journey 
isn’t over.
The trial is ongoing, with researchers monitoring side effects closely. 
Some patients experienced minor injuries — a retinal tear, a small blood 
leak —
each handled with care. But, like many others, this approach is not 
without risks.

Science Corporation knows the stakes. They hope that Prima can move 
forward as the first breakthrough of its kind for those who once faced 
permanent blindness.
As Hodak hints, the early results show a “definitive” change — a 
restoration of the ability to read, to see, and, ultimately, regain 
independence.

With 20 million Americans at risk for AMD and an aging population 
worldwide, Prima is part of a quiet revolution in vision technology.