Patients with complete vision loss are reading again, thanks to AI

Reading is something most of us take for granted – until we can’t do it anymore. Millions of people around the world slowly lose the ability to read because of a vision disease called dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD).

It usually starts as a small blur in the center of vision and gradually takes over, leaving only the edges of sight. It worsens with time, and there’s no treatment. Until now.

For the first time ever, people who were completely blind in one eye because of dry AMD have been able to read again.

This is not achieved with glasses, or with medicine, but with a high-tech implant and smart glasses that work together like an artificial eye.

Testing the new vision implant

Doctors tested this new setup on 38 patients across 17 hospitals in five countries. These patients had lost central vision in one eye completely. They couldn’t even see the letters on a basic eye chart.

After getting the implant and going through training, 84 percent of them could read letters, numbers, and words again. On average, they could read five lines on a vision chart – something that was impossible before.

The technology they tested is called PRIMA. It’s a tiny microchip, about the size of a SIM card, just 2 millimeters across.

Rewiring sight with microchips

During a short, two-hour surgery, doctors place the PRIMA chip under the retina, the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye.

The operation involves removing the vitreous gel inside the eye and slipping the chip under the damaged part of the retina through a small flap.

About a month later, after the eye heals, the chip is switched on. The patient then wears smart glasses equipped with a video camera, which sends a signal to a small, AI-powered computer worn on the waistband.

The computer processes the image and transmits an infrared signal to the chip in the eye.

The chip converts that signal into electrical impulses, which travel through the optic nerve to the brain. The brain interprets these signals – creating a new, artificial way of seeing.

Training the brain to read

Learning to use this new vision isn’t automatic. It takes time, patience, and practice.

Each person in the trial went through months of training to learn how to scan and focus with the glasses, use the zoom feature, and start making sense of the images.

Reading with a brain-computer interface isn’t like reading with normal vision. It’s a skill that needs work.

But it works. “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,” said one participant, Sheila Irvine.

After the surgery, she started learning to read again, one letter at a time. “It’s not simple, learning to read again, but the more hours I put in, the more I pick up.”

Now she does crosswords, reads prescription labels, and even challenges herself by reading the tiny writing on food cans. “It’s made a big difference. Reading takes you into another world, I’m definitely more optimistic now.”

A new era in artificial vision

The U.K. side of the trial was led by Dr. Mahi Muqit, a clinical researcher from the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital.

“In the history of artificial vision, this represents a new era. Blind patients are actually able to have meaningful central vision restoration, which has never been done before,” he said.

“Getting back the ability to read is a major improvement in their quality of life, lifts their mood and helps to restore their confidence and independence.”

“The PRIMA chip operation can safely be performed by any trained vitreoretinal surgeon in under two hours – that is key for allowing all blind patients to have access to this new medical therapy for GA in dry AMD.”

The full clinical trial was led by Dr. Frank Holz at the University of Bonn. Patients took part in the U.K., France, Italy, and the Netherlands.

A microchip that mimics vision

This isn’t just another bionic eye. The chip is paper-thin – only 30 microns thick, which is about half the thickness of a human hair.

It works without wires and doesn’t do anything until it receives the signal from the glasses. The chip acts like a tiny solar panel that converts light into energy.

The implant is placed right under the part of the retina where cells have died. When the chip gets the signal, it sends the visual information directly to the brain. As long as the glasses and waistband computer are turned off, the chip stays silent.

The glasses even come with a zoom feature that helps patients enlarge small text, like the kind found on a prescription bottle or food label.

Restoring vision, not replacing it

Even though the implant restores central vision, it doesn’t harm the peripheral vision patients already have. That’s important, especially for those who still rely on side vision to walk or recognize obstacles. The goal isn’t to replace natural vision but to restore a key part that was lost.

Some patients pushed the technology further. One used it to navigate the Paris Metro; another challenged herself with word puzzles. The device doesn’t just return sight – it gives people the power to choose how to use it.

Reading again after blindness

There’s no approved treatment yet for geographic atrophy from dry AMD. That’s why this device could mean so much.

“The door is open for medical devices in this area, because there is no treatment currently licensed for dry AMD – it doesn’t exist,” said Dr. Muqit.

“These are patients who were no longer able to read, write or recognize faces due to lost vision. They’ve gone from being in darkness to being able to start using their vision again.”

There’s still more to study. But for now, this small chip and a pair of smart glasses are bringing reading – and independence – back to people who thought they’d lost it forever.

The full study was published in the journal New England Journal of Medicine.

—–

Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates. 

Check us out on EarthSnap, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

—–