Science Corporation, a rival to Elon Musk’s Neuralink in the development of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, has just unveiled promising early clinical trial results for an eye implant that it claims can restore vision in some patients with sight loss.

The PRIMA device is designed to be implanted just beneath the retina and works in conjunction with a special pair of glasses and a small processing unit. The implant itself has no wires or cables. It also incorporates a feature called Zoom, which can increase the size of some features such as text on a page.

It’s been designed to help those with an advanced form of age-related macular degeneration called geographic atrophy (GA).

The macula is the central part of the retina and allows us to see in detail. Macular degeneration is the leading cause of age-related sight loss, with about 80 percent of people developing what’s called the “dry” form of the disease. The macula becomes thinner and small lumps of protein build up. The condition may progress to GA, which is characterized by cell loss in some areas of the retina.

The sight loss with GA leads to blurriness and eventually a visual dark spot as the cell death increases. It frequently affects the center of the macula, meaning patients lose the central part of their visual field, which is often the clearest – this may mean it’s no longer possible to do activities like driving, and recognizing faces can become difficult. Patients may need special lenses and devices to help them read, or use computers or smart devices.

GA affects an estimated 1 million people in the USA and there are no treatments that can reverse the damage, but the team at Science Corp believe their PRIMA implant could be a much-needed solution.

“To my knowledge, this is the first time that restoration of the ability to fluently read has ever been definitively shown in blind patients,” said CEO Max Hodak in a statement. Hodak is a former president of Neuralink who co-founded Science Corp in 2021. The PRIMA system was first developed by French company Pixium Vision SA, before being acquired by Science Corp earlier this year.

“This represents an enormous turning point for the field, and we’re incredibly excited to bring this important technology to market over the next few years,” Hodak added.

For the trial, 38 patients with GA were implanted with the PRIMA device. This is the third in a series of early trials, and by far the largest. The results of a feasibility study of five patients who were followed for up to four years after implantation were published recently, finding that the device was tolerated well and that three of the patients regained some of their sight, being able to read at least four additional lines on a vision chart.

The 38 participants in the latest trial have just been followed-up at the 12-month timepoint. Again, the mean improvement was 4.6 lines on the vision chart vs. their uncorrected vision. One patient saw particularly good results, and could read an additional 11.8 lines on the vision chart.

The patients’ mean natural visual acuity remained stable, suggesting that the PRIMA implant and its insertion did no further damage to their retinas.

As you can see in this video, some of the patients in the trial have been able to read text and fill in a crossword puzzle thanks to their implants.

The study is slated to continue until at least February 2026, and the patients’ progress will be monitored, but these early results are certainly promising.

“The results demonstrate a milestone in the treatment of blindness caused by geographic atrophy due to age-related macular degeneration,” said the study’s scientific coordinator Professor Frank Holz, a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Bonn. “For the first time it was possible to restore real form vision in a retina that has deteriorated due to age-related macular degeneration.”

The study was presented at the 24th Euretina Congress in September 2024.