World first in Lübeck: PRIMA retinal chip implanted for the first time since approval
At the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, an 80-year-old patient blinded by macular degeneration has received a 2 × 2 millimetre retinal chip – a world first since its approval.
Archive image · Photo: Phasus / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
At the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH), Lübeck campus, the PRIMA retinal chip has been implanted for the first time worldwide since its approval in July 2026, according to the hospital. The 80-year-old patient has suffered for more than ten years from age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in its advanced dry form, geographic atrophy. The photoreceptor cells in the centre of her retina have died; she can no longer recognise faces or read.
The chip, measuring just two by two millimetres, is implanted under the retina and takes over the job of the dead photoreceptors. Special glasses with a micro-camera send image signals and power to the implant; on 8 October the patient wore the glasses for the first time. After surgery comes intensive training to learn to see again. "We expect that the chip will enable her to read medium-sized letters," says Prof. Salvatore Grisanti, director of the Department of Ophthalmology in Lübeck.
According to UKSH, AMD is the most common cause of blindness in Germany, affecting more than one million people. The system is made by the company Science Corporation, which received the CE mark for Europe in July. In the multicentre trial of 38 patients, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 84 percent reported being able to read letters, numbers and words again.