A newly published clinical trial offers renewed hope for millions suffering from vision loss,as a surgically implanted device has,for the first time,restored reading vision to individuals with blindness caused by age-related macular degeneration. The groundbreaking results,published in The New England Journal of medicine and stemming from the multi-year “Project Prima,” demonstrate that 27 of 32 participants regained the ability to read following implantation and training.While widespread access remains several years away pending further trials and regulatory approvals, this advancement represents a meaningful leap forward in prosthetic vision technology.
A groundbreaking medical advancement in 2025 restored the ability to read for individuals with blindness through a surgically implanted ocular device. While widespread availability of this solution is still several years away, it marks the first time a prosthetic has successfully enabled sight for patients with previously incurable blindness, offering hope to millions affected by vision loss.
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Results from the clinical trial, known as Project Prima, were published in October in The New England Journal of Medicine. The publication represents a significant milestone in the research, though researchers are already working on subsequent trials and improved versions of the implant, anticipating further advancements in 2026.
Researchers spoke with Dr. Daniel Palanker, professor of ophthalmology at Stanford University and one of the study’s lead scientists. From his California office, surrounded by whiteboards covered in complex formulas, Dr. Palanker, a specialist in Applied Physics, explained the more than two-decade-long process of developing the chip that could become a solution for one of the most common causes of blindness worldwide.
The device targets age-related macular degeneration, a condition affecting central and detailed vision – the ability to read or recognize faces. “It affects the macula, hence the name. The macula is the center of the retina, and the retina is the innermost layer of the eye where light enters,” explained Dr. Andrea Hoyos, a retina specialist not involved in the research. “The cornea and lens allow light to pass through to the retina, which receives it and sends it to the optic nerve to the brain, allowing us to see. The macula is responsible for our ability to perceive color and sharpness, and it’s precisely this area that is affected by the disease.”
Macular degeneration is strongly linked to age, becoming a leading cause of blindness globally, and the most common cause in people over 60. Currently, an estimated 200 million people live with the condition, with projections reaching 288 million by 2040.
Dr. Palanker’s research offers a potential solution. The Prima system involves implanting a tiny wireless chip at the back of the eye, paired with high-tech glasses equipped with a small camera. The camera captures images and projects them in real-time, using infrared light, onto the Prima chip. The chip then converts these images into electrical stimulation, effectively mimicking the function of damaged photoreceptors – the retinal cells responsible for detecting light and sending signals to the brain.
“The idea of a retinal prosthesis based on a photovoltaic matrix – a wireless implant powered by light – emerged in 2005, about 20 years ago, and I’ve been working to develop it ever since with my research group. It took around seven years to achieve a proof of concept: building the chips and testing them first *ex vivo* (outside the body) and then in animals, specifically rats.
By 2013, we had very convincing data from animal studies. That same year, a French group led by José-Alain Sahel in Paris founded Pixium Vision, a company that licensed our patents and began commercializing the chip and conducting clinical trials. The first patients were enrolled in 2018. The initial phase, a feasibility study, included five patients in Paris, who were followed for five years, until 2023.
Given the positive results, the company launched a second phase for European approval, involving 38 patients. This pivotal, or phase 3, trial began in 2023, and the first-year results were obtained in 2024. These findings were recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine,” Dr. Palanker said.
The latest trial included 38 participants over 60 years old from Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, all diagnosed with geographic atrophy, an advanced form of macular degeneration. All participants underwent a vitrectomy – a roughly 80-minute procedure – to implant the Prima chip. Dr. Palanker described the surgery:
“During the surgery, we remove the vitreous from in front of the retina, then inject fluid underneath the retina to lift it. We then make a small incision in the peripheral retina to inject the chip underneath. You slide it towards that blind spot right in the middle of the macula.
Then the retina reattaches by injecting a heavy fluid, technically known as fluorocarbon. After adhesion, the surgery is essentially complete. Patients recover from the surgery for perhaps a couple of months, then come to the hospital to adjust the glasses and begin using the system.”
Between four and five weeks passed before trial participants could begin using the glasses, followed by several months of training to improve visual acuity. Of the 32 participants who completed the one-year trial, 27 were able to read again using the 30-micron thick implant – thinner than a human hair, which can measure up to 100 microns.
Throughout the year-long trial, patients used the chip for everyday tasks like reading books, food labels, and subway signs. Sheila Irvine, a British woman who participated in the study, regained the ability to read, her favorite hobby, after losing vision due to geographic atrophy. Alice Charton, a retired teacher from Paris, experienced a similar restoration, having been devastated after a lifetime of teaching children to read, only to lose her own sight.
“Another patient I spoke with recently is an architect from Italy, and he’s back to work thanks to our system. He told me he’s using AutoCAD, an architecture software, and now when he looks at the computer screen he can see his designs. He’s currently finalizing the design of a church in Rome, which is incredible,” Dr. Palanker shared.
While other ocular prosthetics have been developed to treat blindness, they have only provided patients with light sensitivity, not functional vision. This is the first implant to restore sight to those who have lost it, representing an exceptional achievement in scientific research and development. Dr. Palanker recalled several investigations over the past two decades with the same goal.
“At the time we started the project, several groups were working on different approaches, all based on implants with wires. There was a power source located outside the eye and wires that passed through the sclera into the interior, where the implant was located.
One company was Second Sight, based in Los Angeles. They had a retinal implant placed on the retina known as Argus. Another company was Retina Implant AG, located in Tübingen, Germany, whose implant was called Alpha IMS. Both devices failed in 2019 after clinical trials showed patients could perceive light, but not achieve truly functional vision,” Dr. Palanker explained.
As Dr. Palanker noted, Prima originated in Stanford University laboratories, was then developed by Pixium Vision, and in early 2024, the technology was acquired by Science Corporation, a company led by Max Hodak, former president of Neuralink, Elon Musk’s company dedicated to creating chips that connect the human brain with artificial intelligence, with the goal of transforming the treatment of various diseases such as epilepsy or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Science Corporation’s future plans also include developing brain chips with similar functions to those of Neuralink, placing both companies in a race to develop therapeutic solutions. Dr. Palanker – author of 70 patents and founder of seven platform technologies – is focused on improving Prima’s functions and expanding its application to other visual impairments. A limitation of the current chip version is that it only provides black and white vision, sufficient for reading books or signs.
“We want to explore grayscale vision and the characteristics of normal scenes, such as facial recognition, which is very important for patients’ social interactions. They want to see faces. To do this, we will conduct a study on their perception of grayscale and software to optimize facial representation. This will be done with existing patients,” he announced.
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Another study Dr. Palanker is planning for 2026 involves a feasibility test to determine if the chip would also work in patients with retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary disease that causes retinal cells to gradually stop functioning, affecting 1 in 4,000 people and currently having no cure. At the same time, this year they will continue to advance the process of obtaining approval from health authorities for the use of the chip:
“If it works in a small feasibility trial, we will probably have to conduct a larger one to test its use in retinitis pigmentosa. In addition, to achieve approval in other countries, such as the United States, it will be necessary to treat some patients there, as they will not accept only European data and will also want to have evidence generated in the U.S.
We don’t yet know how many patients will be required; that is currently being negotiated with the FDA, but it is a process that is already underway. Once approval is obtained in both Europe and the United States, the technology could be used in those countries. I do not know what the regulations are in other places: some may require their own studies, while others will accept U.S. or European approval,” he commented.
Regarding the availability of this implant in other regions, such as Latin America, Dr. Palanker is optimistic and expects it to be received similarly to the cochlear implant, developed about forty years ago and now used worldwide by patients with profound deafness. Currently, this device has two major manufacturers, one in the United States and one in Australia, who are responsible for distributing it globally.
The goal is for this solution to reach all places where it is needed and, in a global context where aging is progressing faster and faster, to be able to read again and recognize familiar faces despite the passage of time.
