A team composed of international research institutions such as Stanford Medical School in the United States, Moffield Eye Hospital in the United Kingdom, and the University of Bonn in Germany has developed a subretinal wireless microchip, combined with a pair of high-tech glasses, which for the first time truly provides "formal vision" and successfully helps patients with advanced age-related macular degeneration restore their vision. In a clinical trial, 27 out of 32 participants who completed a one-year follow-up recovered their reading ability. This research result was published on the 20th in the New England Journal of Medicine. The device, named PRIMA, is the first ocular prosthesis designed to restore functional "form vision" to patients with incurable visual loss. Formal vision "refers to the ability to perceive shapes and patterns, not just light. Previously, most attempts to restore vision through prosthetic devices could only achieve perception of light. The PRIMA device is equipped with a miniature camera mounted on a pair of glasses that captures external images and projects them in real-time onto a wireless chip implanted in the fundus using infrared light. After receiving infrared signals, the chip converts them into electrical stimulation, replacing the natural photoreceptor cells that have lost their function due to diseases, and transmitting visual information to the still intact neurons in the retina. This device is the result of decades of research, prototype development, animal experiments, and early small-scale human trials. The 38 patients participating in this trial are all over 60 years old, suffering from advanced age-related macular degeneration, and at least one eye is blind. This disease is the most common cause of irreversible blindness in the elderly, affecting over 5 million people worldwide. It can damage the photoreceptor cells in the central area of the retina, but most patients still retain some peripheral visual photoreceptor cells and retinal neurons that transmit signals. The PRIMA chip utilizes this residual function to restore patients' vision. Unlike previous eye prostheses that require an external power source and connecting cables, PRIMA chips rely on the photovoltaic effect to generate current with only light, allowing them to operate completely wirelessly and be implanted under the retina. After the patient started wearing the device, everyone's visual function significantly improved after several months of training. Among the 32 patients who completed the one-year trial, 27 regained their reading ability and 26 achieved clinically significant improvement in vision (i.e. reading at least two more lines on the standard visual acuity chart). On average, patients' vision improved by five whole lines, with one person even improving by 12 lines. At present, PRIMA only provides black and white visual options without intermediate grayscale. The team is developing new software to achieve full range grayscale imaging, which is crucial for advanced visual tasks such as facial recognition. This achievement marks a crucial leap in visual prosthesis technology from "photosensitivity" to "shape recognition", and its clinical significance is profound. It not only provides a realistic possibility for millions of patients with advanced macular degeneration to restore functional vision, but also verifies the technological path of using intraocular photovoltaic chips to achieve wireless and minimally invasive visual reconstruction. The currently reported version is only the first version of the chip, with relatively low resolution. It is expected that the next generation of 20 micron pixel chips, combined with electronic zoom technology, can even approach the standard of normal vision, bringing hope for irreversible blindness patients worldwide to return to independent living. (New Society)