Experts across 17 different hospitals developed the photovoltaic retina implant microarray (PRIMA) system, which is an device that is helping blind patients regain their ability to read. In an ongoing clinical trial across five countries, the team found that the chip was effective in 84 percent of patients. After treatment, patients on average were able to read five lines of a standard vision chart, whereas before the implant, some patients were unable to distinguish the chart at all. “All previous attempts to provide vision with prosthetic devices resulted in basically light sensitivity, not really form vision,” Palanker says in the Stanford press release. Second to reading, patients also wished to regain facial recognition, according to Palanker.