Overview
- In a multicenter trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, 27 of 32 assessed participants with geographic atrophy could read one year after implantation, and 26 achieved clinically meaningful acuity gains of at least 0.2 logMAR.
- Participants trained for months and used digital zoom and contrast controls on the glasses, with some reaching reading acuity near 20/42 under magnification for high‑contrast text.
- The PRIMA system pairs camera‑equipped glasses with a 2 × 2 mm, 30‑µm‑thick subretinal photovoltaic chip (378 pixels) that receives infrared projections to stimulate retinal neurons while preserving natural peripheral vision.
- Safety monitoring recorded 26 serious ocular adverse events in 19 patients, mostly perioperative issues such as ocular hypertension, peripheral retinal tears, and subretinal hemorrhage that largely resolved within two months.
- Current vision is black‑and‑white at limited resolution, and developers report work on grayscale software, higher‑resolution next‑generation implants tested in animals, and, according to the company, a European approval filing alongside efforts to slim the headset.