Imagine looking at a wall clock. You see numbers around the edge but no hands in the middle: You can’t tell what time it is. Macular degeneration is an eye disease. It causes the loss of one’s central vision. But soon a tiny, implantable chip could restore sight for millions of people who suffer from a specific type of this incurable disease.
Macular degeneration most often occurs as a result of aging. One type of the disease is even called AMD, or Age-Related Macular Degeneration.
AMD is the leading cause of vision loss in adults over age 50, according to the American Optometric Association. AMD makes driving, reading, or even recognizing people difficult.
In Ecclesiastes, Solomon reflects on growing older. Some Bible scholars think “the windows are dimmed” (12:3) is a description of failing eyesight. Our bodies do age. The good news is that spiritual sight often improves with time—as Christians experience many years of God’s love and faithfulness. That adds a layer of meaning to “walk[ing] by faith and not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)
AMD affects an eye’s retina. Located at the back of the eye, the retina changes light into signals. It sends the signals to the brain. The brain interprets the signals as images. With the type of macular degeneration known as dry AMD, the retina deteriorates. It stops receiving or sending signals.
Recently, health officials in France approved the trial of a microchip that helps restore sight loss from dry AMD. The wireless chip was implanted behind the retinas of five individuals with advanced AMD.
Doctors implant the chip, called PRIMA, in a 90-minute operation. Eye surgery has come a long way. Today’s surgeons use laser eye-tracking—helping them make precise cuts, even if a patient blinks or moves around.
People in the PRIMA trial wear camera-equipped eyeglasses. The glasses wirelessly transmit images to a pocket computer, which converts them into infrared signals. Those signals are retransmitted to the glasses. The glasses send the light beam to the chip behind the retina. The chip then converts the signals into electrical current—which stimulates nearby cells and reopens the communication path to the optic nerve and the brain. (Whew!)
The makers of PRIMA hope to improve vision for millions of people. Khalid Ishaque is CEO of Pixium, PRIMA’s developer. He says, “What people [with AMD] ideally want is to read again and to recognize faces.” He means human faces, of course. But seeing clock faces would probably be good too.
