A recently launched clinical trial will test the safety and effectiveness of a new device in partially restoring the vision of people with inherited retinal diseases.

A newly launched clinical trial at the Save Sight Institute and Sydney Eye Hospital is set to test the effectiveness of a new device in partially restoring vision through the electrical stimulation of the retina.

Functioning as built-in biological cameras, the retinas within our eyes consist of light-sensitive cells known as photoreceptors. These photoreceptors capture and convert light into electrical signals that are transmitted by the optic nerve to the brain to enable sight. However, in inherited retinal diseases like Stargardt disease and retinitis pigmentosa, these photoreceptors are damaged, resulting in the gradual loss of either central or peripheral vision, respectively.

An innovative system of specialised devices known as PRIMA has been developed to partially restore the vision of people with damaged photoreceptors. The PRIMA system has two main parts: the PRIMA Stim, a small electrical stimulator that is surgically implanted under the retina, and the PRIMA Companion, a pair of glasses with a mounted projection module and pocket computer.

Together, the PRIMA system works as follows: first, the mini-camera of the PRIMA Companion’s projection module records the surrounding environment. The pocket computer then translates this information into stimulation pulses that are received by the projection module.

Read more: New device hopes to restore vision lost from retinal degeneration – The University of Sydney

Source: The University of Sydney