‘Life-changing’ implant helps the blind to see again

A revolutionary eye implant is helping blind people see again in what doctors have called a “life-changing” breakthrough.

The PRIMA system, developed by scientists in London, allows patients who have lost their vision due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) to reread and recognize shapes.

The tiny electronic chip, measuring just 2 mm x 2 mm and half the thickness of a human hair, is placed under the retina, the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye. It works by restoring vision to people with geographic atrophy (GA), an advanced form of AMD that affects around five million people worldwide and is responsible for a quarter of legal blindness cases in the UK.

Moorfields Eye Hospital senior vitreoretinal consultant Dr. Mahi Muqit explained that the results were surprising.

He said: “I have all my blind patients and when you see them, they want to know if there is something that can bring back sight. The answer has always been no. We have some patients who read books now; their quality of life is much better.”