French company Pixium Vision has successfully completed its first human implantation and activation of Prima, its miniaturised, wireless photovoltaic sub-retinal implant, in a patient with severe vision loss from atrophic dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

“Following activation, the patient reported a first perception of light from the central zone where there was none previously,” said Dr Yannick Le Mer, principal investigator for Prima’s first human feasibility study. “The patient now proceeds to the important re-education phase to learn to interpret the light signals and evaluate the performance of the system.”

After completing the feasibility phase in France, Pixum says the next step will be to perform an FDA approved US feasibility study.