For the first time, an eye implant can reverse the loss of vision from macular degeneration, an eye disease that creates a blind spot in the central vision.
▲ (left) In patients with macular degeneration, damage to the retina affects the central part of the vision. (right) The PRIMA eye prosthesis allows these patients to regain the ability to read letters, numbers, and words. Image courtesy of Palanker Lab/Stanford Medicine.
A new safety and efficacy trial in 38 individuals found that about 80% had a meaningful improvement in their vision after the implant, which sits below the retina. Macular degeneration damages this layer, which lines the back of the eye and contains the photoreceptor cells that detect light and transform that signal into electrical pulses which travel to the brain. In particular, macular degeneration affects the central part of the retina, where light hits when someone looks at something directly. People with the disorder can see out of their peripheral vision, but tasks like reading or driving can become impossible.
“This is a few millimeters of visual area,” says Daniel Palanker, a professor of ophthalmology at Stanford Univ. and the lead author of a new paper in the New England Journal of Medicine...
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