PRIMA Implant Restores Reading Vision in 84%

PRIMA is a tiny wireless photovoltaic implant (2 mm × 2 mm) placed under the retina and used with augmented‑reality glasses that capture images and project near‑infrared light to the chip, which converts images into electrical pulses to stimulate remaining retinal neurons. In a multicentre European trial of 38 patients at 17 sites in five countries, the system restored meaningful central/prosthetic vision for 84% of participants, with 27 of 32 trial completers able to read letters, numbers or words after one year. Some patients achieved visual acuity roughly equivalent to 20/42 and could read several lines or pages, and the prosthetic central vision was usable alongside preserved peripheral vision. The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and were led by investigators including teams at Moorfields/UCL, Stanford and authors Frank Holz and Daniel Palanker. Researchers say the technology could broaden treatment options for geographic atrophy from dry age‑related macular degeneration but noted questions remain about long‑term durability, wider scale‑up, commercialization and how quickly health systems such as the NHS could adopt it.