Blind patients read again with smart glasses-linked eye implant

The article discusses the use of smart glasses-linked eye implants to restore some vision in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Several dozen patients with vision loss due to AMD regained a degree of central vision through this technology. The study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, involved a 2-by-2-millimeter device made of tiny photovoltaic solar panels that was surgically implanted under the retina. Patients wore camera-equipped smart glasses that transmitted zoomed-in images to the retinal implant, which then pulsed small electrical signals into the optic nerve. At the one-year mark, 26 out of 32 participants could see better than when they started, although their vision remained blurry and in black and white. The technology was developed by the brain-computer interface company Science Corporation, which acquired the retinal implant technology from the French medical device company Pixium Vision in 2024.