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4 Medical Breakthroughs for Eye Health
A retinal implant overcomes late-stage age-related macular degeneration
3-minute read
Glenn Harvey
Sheila Irvine, 71, has geographic atrophy (GA), an advanced stage of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The condition, which affects around 20 percent of people with AMD, causes cell death in areas of the retina and can lead to irreversible vision loss. Irvine, who lives in Malmesbury, England, has such severe vision loss that she likens it to wearing a blindfold.
Irvine was once an avid reader, but she hadn’t been able to read for “quite some time.” Now, after enrolling in a clinical trial for a tiny wireless retinal implant called PRIMA, she is back to poring over thrillers.
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“I do crosswords, sudoku, spot the difference, dot to dot and those sorts of things as well,” she says.
The 2-by-2-millimeter device converts light into electrical signals that stimulate the retina’s nerve cells, sending visual information to the brain. It’s paired with specialized glasses that capture images and project them onto the implant, like an overhead projector sending images into the eye.
During PRIMA’s clinical trial, 32 participants with GA, age 60 and up, received the implant and were evaluated one year later. Eighty-one percent experienced meaningful improvement in their vision. On average, patients in the trial gained 25 letters on a standard eye chart, equivalent to about five lines.
Sheila Irvine being trained to use, and read with, the PRIMA retinal implant at Moorfields Eye Hospital.
Moorfields Eye Hospital
“In retinal prostheses till now, nothing has given any patient the perception of a meaningful object, such as a letter, a word or a number. This is the first time,” says Dr. Mahi Muqit, a consultant retinal surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital and associate professor at University College London who implanted PRIMA devices in patients during the clinical trial.
Existing treatments for dry AMD could help slow the disease’s progression, but they have been unable to cure the condition or restore eyesight. And while early retinal implants have provided some patients with limited artificial vision, PRIMA has taken the technology further by improving central vision in people with late-stage dry AMD.
“We are the first to show that it’s actually possible to restore form vision, not just light sensitivity,” says Daniel Palanker, professor of ophthalmology at Stanford University and inventor of the PRIMA retinal implant.
Irvine recalls starting to read again and thinking, Oh my God, I got a second chance. But recognizing letters wasn’t as simple as just putting on the glasses. In patients with GA, the brain often hasn’t received visual information from that part of the retina for years. So using PRIMA requires rehabilitation to help their brains learn to interpret the signals.
“It’s almost like doing physical therapy,” says Dr. Frank Brodie, chief medical officer for vision at Science Corporation, the company bringing PRIMA to market. Patients also have to learn how to use the glasses, which come with a control pack that adjusts the zoom and focus.
“The day I actually saw a word, I was overwhelmed,” says Irvine. “I haven’t seen a word for ages, and in my head I was going, Don’t go away. Oh, don’t go. Don’t go. Because I was thinking, Oh, I’ve got to concentrate to hold it there.”
PRIMA received its CE mark in July 2026 — a European Union designation similar to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval — and is available for commercial use in Europe. Science Corporation is working with the FDA on bringing PRIMA to the United States.
More advances in eye health
Breakthrough: Brain stimulation may improve vision after stroke
A stroke can damage areas of the brain that control vision. One result of this is hemianopia, which can lead to loss of half the visual field. Regaining some vision can require months of intensive training, with modest results. But researchers in Switzerland recently tested whether gentle electrical stimulation of the brain can improve recovery.
In a study of 16 stroke survivors, most with hemianopia, participants performed visual exercises while receiving electrical stimulation to two regions of the brain involved in vision. Electrical signals were set to mimic the brain’s natural communication pattern between the two areas. Patients who received the targeted brain stimulation technique became better at detecting movement and could see more of their visual field than before treatment.
Breakthrough: New glaucoma implant replaces daily eye drops
“I forgot.” “I ran out.” “I fell asleep.”
Those are a few reasons that patients give Dr. Karen Allison for not staying on course with their daily glaucoma eye drops. But missing doses can put eyesight at risk.
“Often the damage starts in the periphery, so you don’t notice it until it manifests in your central vision,” says Allison, a Prevent Blindness board member and clinical associate professor of ophthalmology at the University of Rochester.
A new option: sustained-release treatments. Injected into the eye, a tiny dissolvable implant called Durysta releases glaucoma medication for about three to six months.
Another implant, iDose TR, can release medication around the clock for up to three years. In January 2026, the FDA approved repeat administration of iDose, allowing patients who benefited from a first implant to receive another if eligible for ongoing treatment. “It’s a game changer,” says Allison.
Breakthrough: A better lens option for cataract surgery
Cataract surgery involves removing a lens that has become clouded due to age or injury and implanting a clear artificial lens in its place. Traditional lenses can provide clear vision at one distance; newer lenses that help people see clearly at multiple distances may come with trade-offs such as glare or halos.
A new lens called TECNIS PureSee, which received FDA approval in March, is designed to work around some of those trade-offs. It’s an extended depth of focus (EDOF) lens that falls somewhere between traditional single-focus and multifocal lenses. PureSee may provide clear distance and arm’s-length vision without glasses, although most patients will still need reading glasses for fine print.
Many traditional multifocal lenses use rings to split light for different distances. PureSee uses a purely refractive design shown to reduce halos and decrease glare. It’s part of the shift toward more personalized cataract surgery, where doctors have a growing number of lenses to match a patient’s lifestyle.
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