A tiny, wire-free implant positioned behind the retina has given some reading back to people living on the brink of irreversible blindness caused by macular degeneration. The international clinical trial led by Stanford Medicine showed a result that is difficult to ignore, of 32 patients, 27 returned to reading after a year of use.

The publication in the New England Journal of Medicine marked the point at which Prima stopped being just research and began to indicate a real path of visual rehabilitation, the operation is direct, almost elegant, macular degeneration destroys photoreceptors, cells that transform light into electrical impulses.

Prima occupies exactly that lost space, with just 2 mm, the chip receives infrared light sent by a microcamera attached to special lenses, there, hundreds of microelectrodes convert the signal into stimuli that reach the brain as recognizable patterns, no cables, no internal batteries. The light itself powers the system, reducing risks and keeping the implant stable under the retina.

Training begins weeks after surgery and initial results follow a consistent rhythm, shapes, enlarged letters, contours, after a year, most distinguish signs and read text with contrast optimized by the lenses. The reported side effects such as small subretinal hemorrhages and temporary increase in eye pressure draw attention precisely because they are controllable.