Eye implants and smart glasses restore some lost vision

Dozens of patients regained some of their vision thanks to an implant inside their eyes combined with a set of smart glasses. the He studies It was published on Monday in New England Journal of Medicineand researchers a report Patients can see well enough by using technology to fill out crossword puzzles and read regular books again.

The research focused on patients who had lost vision in the center of their eyes due to a progressive form of blindness called age-related macular degeneration. The disease cannot be reversed because the cells in the center of the patient’s retina die over time. The study focused on restoring some of that lost vision using a 2 x 2 mm device made of small photovoltaic solar panels. The device was surgically implanted under the retina in the patient’s eye. Patients wore smart glasses equipped with cameras, which transmitted magnified images of the world to the implanted eye using near-infrared light. The retinal implant then sends small electrical signals to the optic nerve, mimicking what retinal cells normally do.

The study began with 38 patients who received retinal implants, 32 of whom remained in the clinical trial for a full year. After one year, 26 of the 32 participants were able to see better than when they started The success rate is 80 percent. It’s not perfect. Patients can only see a blurry vision of the world and only black and white. But researchers not involved in the study described the work as “amazing.” I mentioned by New York Times.
The technology comes from brain-computer interface company Science Corporation, whose founder and CEO, Max Hudakco-founded Neuralink in 2016 with Elon Musk. Science Corporation acquired retinal implant technology from the French medical device company Pixium Vision in 2024 after it ran out of money after a decade of work on developing vision technology. I mentioned by IEEE Spectrum. It was a similar story for another well-known vision prosthetic company, Second Sight Medical, which… Abandoned technology It was rescued by another medtech startup, allowing… Clinical trials continue.