Health
Chinese eye implant helps blind man recognise letters, avoid obstacles
By Okiki Adeduyite
A Chinese hospital has implanted a chip in the eye of a blind man, enabling him to recognise letters and numbers, grasp objects and navigate around obstacles after more than 30 years of visual impairment.
China Daily reports on Thursday that 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.
Qiu regained some visual perception using specially designed glasses equipped with cameras that capture images of his surroundings and convert them into electrical signals.
The signals are transmitted wirelessly to a chip implanted in the outer wall of his eyeball, known as the sclera. The chip stimulates nearby nerve pathways, which transmit signals to the brain’s visual cortex, enabling him to perceive visual patterns.
The hospital’s vice-president, Xiao Xuan, said Qiu began training after resting for a month following the surgery and made progress beyond expectations.
Xiao said, “Upon putting on the glasses, the patient immediately feels photoelectric stimulation and perceives light spots.
“With three training sessions per week, between the first and third weeks, the patient is able to recognise and write down numbers, letters and Chinese characters, grasp objects accurately, and walk independently along visual markers.
“However, prolonged systematic training is required for the patient to read texts accurately and distinguish finer-detailed objects.”
She likened the process to a baby learning to understand the world, explaining that patients had to develop new recognition skills by repeatedly associating electrical stimulation signals with objects around them.
According to China Daily, the implant is smaller than half a fingernail and does not penetrate the eyeball. It also avoids connecting wires between the inside and outside of the eye and does not require external magnetic attachments.
Xiao said the approach could cause less damage than similar surgical procedures because the chip is implanted in the sclera rather than directly against the retina.
She said the technology could potentially benefit patients with seven types of blindness caused by 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.
Xiao said artificial vision remained different from natural sight, which allows people to recognise colours, perceive depth and see three-dimensional objects.
The technology instead generates light spots, known as phosphenes, through electrical stimulation of nerves, producing pixel-like visual patterns.
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 still needed to overcome.
The long-term goal, she said, was to help patients live more independently, including travelling alone, avoiding obstacles and identifying 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 left him reluctant to go out by himself.
He said he was happy to be gradually regaining visual perception and hoped the technology would make everyday life easier.
Qiu experienced mild eye irritation during the initial electrical stimulation and device adjustment, but adapted quickly, according to the report.
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