A Chinese medical team has developed an eye-implant technology that has enabled a blind man to recognise letters and numbers, pick up objects and move around obstacles after more than 30 years of visual impairment.
The procedure was performed in July at Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University in Hubei Province, China, on a patient identified only by his surname, Qiu, China Daily reported on Thursday.
The technology combines a miniature chip implanted in the outer wall of the eyeball with specially designed glasses fitted with cameras, allowing the patient to regain limited visual perception.
The cameras capture images of the surroundings and convert them into electrical signals, which are transmitted wirelessly to the implanted chip. The device then stimulates nearby nerve pathways, sending signals to the brain’s visual cortex and enabling the patient to perceive patterns of light.
The hospital’s vice-president, Xiao Xuan, said Qiu began rehabilitation training after resting for a month following the surgery and recorded progress beyond expectations.
“Upon putting on the glasses, the patient immediately feels photoelectric stimulation and perceives light spots,” Xiao said.
She explained that after three weeks of training, conducted three times a week, Qiu could recognise and write down numbers, letters and Chinese characters, grasp objects accurately and walk independently along visual markers.
However, she said sustained rehabilitation would be necessary for him to read texts accurately and distinguish objects with finer details.
Xiao compared the process to a baby learning to understand the world, noting that patients must gradually learn to associate electrical signals with objects in their surroundings.
According to China Daily, the implant is smaller than half a fingernail and does not penetrate the eyeball. It also eliminates the need for connecting wires between the inside and outside of the eye or external magnetic attachments.
Xiao said implanting the chip in the sclera, the white outer layer of the eyeball, rather than directly against the retina, could reduce tissue damage compared with some similar surgical approaches.
The technology could potentially help patients with seven types of blindness associated with nerve damage, including retinitis pigmentosa, advanced age-related macular degeneration, advanced glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.
However, patients whose eyeballs and optic nerves have been completely destroyed are not eligible for the treatment, she said.
Despite the breakthrough, Xiao cautioned that artificial vision remained substantially different from natural sight, which enables people to perceive colours, depth and three-dimensional objects.
The implant currently produces light spots, known as phosphenes, through electrical stimulation of nerves, creating pixel-like visual patterns rather than restoring normal vision.
She identified reproducing colour vision and accurately mapping signals between retinal nerves, the optic nerve and the brain’s visual cortex as major challenges researchers must overcome.
The long-term objective, she said, is to help visually impaired people live more independently by enabling them to travel alone, avoid obstacles and identify banknotes.
Qiu, who has worked as a blind massage therapist, said his visual impairment had made travelling alone risky. He recalled nearly being hit by an electric motorbike, an experience that made him reluctant to venture out by himself.
He said he was pleased to be gradually regaining visual perception and hoped the technology would make everyday life easier.
The report added that Qiu experienced mild eye irritation during the initial electrical stimulation and device adjustment but adapted quickly.
