A pioneering eye patch improves vision in people with severe age-related sight loss, research suggested in April 2018.
When implanted at the back of the eye of people suffering from dry macular degeneration, all experienced improved or stabilised vision, a study found.
One woman, aged 69, was even able to read 24 letters on an eye chart after having the device fitted, compared to just seven before, the research adds.
The device involves placing a wafer-thin patch coated with healthy embryonic retinal cells on the tissue near the optic nerve, which sends impulses to the brain where images are formed.
Dry macular degeneration affects around 1.75 million people in the US alone and causes reduced central vision due to thinning of the part of the retina responsible for people’s direct line of sight.
The researchers, from the University of Southern California, placed the patch, measuring 6x4mm, on the retinas of four people with advanced dry macular degeneration.
Each of the participants only had one eye tested, while the other served as a control.
One year on, the patch stabilised the disease in all of the participants’ treated eyes, while those that had not received the patch continued to deteriorate.
Two of the participants were better able to maintain their vision on a single object a year after the implant was fitted.
The researchers believe their findings suggest the patch improves the vision of people with severe age-related dry macular degeneration, at least in the short term.
They plan to conduct a larger trial that tests the device on patients at an earlier stage of the disease.