Chinese eye hospital reports the country's first retinal-pathway visual implant in a blind patient
A 66-year-old woman blinded by retinitis pigmentosa can now recognize simple characters and pick up objects about two months after receiving a 320-resolution implant under the macula in a clinical trial, Chinese media report.
A team led by chief physician Zhang Yun at the Hangzhou branch of the Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University has implanted what Chinese media describe as the country’s first retinal-pathway visual brain-computer interface in a clinical trial, Science and Technology Daily reported on October 23. The patient, a 66-year-old woman who had been totally blind for eight years from retinitis pigmentosa, received a 320-resolution chip placed beneath the choroid at the macula through a small tunnel in the white of the eye. Training began a month after surgery. About two months on, she can tell which way a test letter “E” is facing, recognize simple digits, letters and Chinese characters, pick up objects such as a water bottle, and complete a walking test on her own.
The report does not name the device maker, the trial or how many people it will enroll, and the results come from a single patient.
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