Blind patients able to read again thanks to life-changing eye implant

Five people were treated at the Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, where devices measuring just 2mm by 2mm were fitted by surgeons.

Experts say the technology could eventually be rolled out through NHS services which could offer a "paradigm shift" in artificial vision.

Fitted under the retina, the layer of light-sensitive tissue in the eye, the device allows patients to see letters, numbers and words through an eye that was previously blind.

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Thanks to the so-called "prosthetic vision", some patients are now even able to complete crosswords and read the small print on prescription labels.

Mahi Muqit, senior vitreoretinal consultant at Moorfields Eye Hospital and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, described the breakthrough as life-changing.

He said: "I have all these patients who are blind, and when you see them, they want to know is there anything that can restore vision?

"And the answer has always been no.

"That answer has now changed. We've got some patients who are now reading books. Their quality of life is much higher."

The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest 84% of patients in the trial were able to read letters, numbers and words while using Prima.

On average, they could read five lines on a vision chart, whereas before the device was fitted, some could not even see the chart.

The worldwide trial included 38 patients across 17 sites in five countries including the UK, France, Italy and the Netherlands.

All participants had a condition known as geographic atrophy (GA), an advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

GA, which affects approximately five million people worldwide, can lead to complete vision loss as the central part of the retina.

Experts estimate that around one in four people who are legally blind in the UK have GA resulting from AMD.

Those who took part in the study had lost central vision in the tested eye and retained only limited peripheral vision.

To see and read, patients wear augmented-reality glasses with a built-in camera, linked to a small computer on their waistband.

The camera sends an infrared beam to the chip to activate it.

AI in the computer processes the image and converts it into an electrical signal, which travels through the retina and optic nerve to the brain, where it is interpreted as vision.

The procedures took place at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London around three years ago and lasted under two hours.

Sheila Irvine, one of the patients who took part in the trial, said that before the operation her vision "was like having two black discs" in her eyes, "with the outside distorted".

She can now read her prescriptions, do crosswords and read ingredient lists.

Ms Irvine said: "There was no pain during the operation, but you're still aware of what's happening.

"It's a new way of looking through your eyes, and it was dead exciting when I began seeing a letter."

Mr Muqit said the prima device allows patients who may feel depressed and socially isolated "to start to function and pick up things that they used to enjoy.

"In the history of artificial vision, this represents a new era," he added.

"Blind patients are actually able to have meaningful central vision restoration, which has never been done before."