Overview
- A peer-reviewed international trial in the New England Journal of Medicine studied 38 patients over 60 with geographic atrophy from dry age-related macular degeneration.
- More than 80% of participants showed clear visual-acuity gains and 84% could recognize letters, numbers or words, with an average improvement of about five lines on an eye chart after months of training.
- The first-generation PRIMA system pairs a 2×2 mm, 30 µm thin subretinal photovoltaic chip (378 pixels) with camera-equipped glasses and a belt processor that projects infrared images to the implant to preserve natural peripheral vision.
- The device currently delivers black-and-white images, requires neuro-visual rehabilitation, and remains available only in clinical trials.
- A Data Safety Monitoring Board unanimously recommended European approval, regulatory submissions have begun, and higher-resolution chips of roughly 10,000 pixels are in preclinical testing.