Pioneering retinal implant allows patient to read again

A woman who described herself as an “avid bookworm” before losing her sight is able to read again after taking part in a world-first study. Sheila Irvine, from Wiltshire, was one of 38 patients in five countries to be included in a clinical trial to test the 2mm x 2mm bionic eye implant, Prima.

- STORM NEWTON REBECCA WHITTAKER

The device is designed to help those with geographic atrophy (GA), an advanced stage of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), to read and write again using so-called “prosthetic vision”.

During the trial, a chip was fitted under the layer of light-sensitive tissue in the eye called the retina. To see words and write, patients wear augmented-reality glasses with a video camera, which the chip uses to beam information to a pocket computer.

Artificial intelligence in the computer processes the information into an electrical signal that is sent to the optic nerve and to the brain. A zoom feature can even magnify letters. The procedures took place at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London around three years ago.

The chip was activated about a month after the operation, with patients then undergoing intense rehabilitation to help them interpret the signals and learn to read again.

Ms Irvine said she took part in the trial to help people in the future, and can now read her prescriptions, do crosswords and read the ingredients on tins.

“I wanted to take part in research to help future generations, and my optician suggested I get in touch with Moorfields,” she said. “Before receiving the implant, it was like having two black discs in my eyes, with the outside distorted. I was an avid bookworm, and I wanted that back.”