"The research focused on patients who've lost vision in the center of their eye due to a progressive form of blindness called age-related macular degeneration. The disease cannot be reversed because cells in the center of the patients' retinas die over time. The study focused on restoring some of that lost vision using a 2-by-2-millimeter device made of tiny photovoltaic solar panels."
"The study started off with 38 patients who received the retinal implant, 32 of whom stayed in the clinical trial for a full year. At the one year mark, 26 of the 32 participants could see better than when they started - an 80 percent success rate. It's not perfect; patients can only see a blurry vision of the world and only in black and white. But researchers uninvolved in the study called the work "amazing," as reported by The New York Times."
"The technology comes from the brain-computer interface company Science Corporation, whose founder and CEO, Max Hodak, cofounded Neuralink in 2016 with Elon Musk. Science Corporation acquired the retinal implant technology from the French medical device company Pixium Vision in 2024 after it ran out of money after a decade of working to develop the vision technology, as reported by IEEE Spectrum."
Several dozen patients regained some vision after receiving an implanted 2-by-2-millimeter photovoltaic device under the retina paired with camera-equipped smart glasses. The glasses transmitted zoomed-in images via near infrared light to the implant, which pulsed small electrical signals into the optic nerve to mimic retinal cell activity. Thirty-eight patients received the implant and 32 completed one year of follow-up; 26 of those 32 showed improved vision, an 80 percent success rate. Vision outcomes were limited to blurry, monochrome perception, yet improvements enabled activities such as filling crossword puzzles and reading regular books.
Read at The Verge
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