Scientists invent PRIMA eye implants that restore vision
Sim card-shaped prosthetic devices- PRIMA eye implants in as many as 38 elderly patients who were assessed for 12 months.
Scientists have invented a groundbreaking electronic eye implant that can help the elderly patients to visualise everything. The patients can now read again with the use of this implant which is only half the thickness of a human hair.
The doctors implanted the sim card-shaped prosthetic devices in as many as 38 elderly patients as a trial. The Photovoltaic retina implant microarray (PRIMA) combines a subretinal photovoltaic implant and glasses that project near-infrared light to the implant in order to restore sight to areas of central retinal atrophy.
The results of the PRIMA glasses were assessed with and without the glasses at 6 and 12 months. Of the 38 patients, 32 were assessed at 12 months. The article published in New England Journal of Medicine said, “Among the 32 participants the system led to a clinically meaningful improvement in visual acuity from baseline in 26 (81%; 95% confidence interval, 64 to 93; P<0.001).”
The patients had Geographic atrophy due to age-related macular degeneration which causes irreversible blindness. There are no therapies to restore the vision of such persons till now.
Presented at #AAO2025:
In persons with geographic atrophy due to age-related macular degeneration, a neurostimulation system composed of glasses, a processor, and a subretinal implant restored central vision and significantly improved visual acuity. Full PRIMAvera study:… pic.twitter.com/XyL3h4wMhc
— NEJM (@NEJM) October 20, 2025
