[The Subretinal Implant - Clinical Results]

Since the end of the last century, subretinal electronic chips have been used to restore vision in patients blinded by degenerative retinal diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa. Various procedures have been suggested by different international scientific groups. The promising were the retinal-based concepts, for which there are now human data. The two distinct retina-based concepts not only differ in the site of stimulation (epi- or subretinal), but in their physiological concept. Whereas in camera-based systems (epiretinal, transchoroidal), eye movements cannot be used to detect objects, this is possible with subretinal access. It is as yet unclear as to whether this is relevant to restoring some kind of useful visual perception. This and other questions can only be answered by carefully designed human studies with sufficient patient numbers. Comparison of the visual results of the different groups is neither simple nor trivial. The implantations in each project need well trained and skilled retinal surgeons.