Woman who lost vision can read again after ‘life-changing’ clinical trial
How patients with vision loss are learning to read again
- Sheila Irvine, from Wiltshire, has regained her ability to read after participating in a world-first study for a bionic eye implant.
- The study involved 38 patients across five countries who received a 2mm x 2mm Prima implant, designed to treat geographic atrophy (GA), an advanced stage of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
- The device, fitted at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, works by using a chip under the retina, augmented-reality glasses, and AI to process visual information into electrical signals for the brain, enabling "prosthetic vision".
- Ms Irvine, who was an "avid bookworm" before losing her sight, can now read prescriptions, do crosswords, and read ingredients, expressing increased optimism about her life.
- Findings published in The New England Journal of Medicine show 84 per cent of patients could read letters, numbers, and words, with developers now seeking regulatory approval for the "life-changing" technology, potentially for NHS availability.