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A researcher inspects a sample under a stereo microscope at Shaoxin Laboratory in Yuecheng district, Shaoxing. [Photo/Tide News]

Researchers from Shaoxing's Shaoxin Laboratory and Fudan University recently published a revolutionary visual prosthesis in Science, offering new hope for restoring sight to the blind.

Led by Zhou Peng and Wang Shuiyuan, the team created a Tellurium Nanowire Network (TeNWNs) retinal nanoprosthesis. This device achieves the highest recorded photocurrent density for such systems and accomplishes the world's broadest spectral coverage for visual reconstruction and extension — spanning visible light to the second near-infrared region.

The breakthrough resulted from seven years of persistent effort. Successfully tested on blind mice and non-human primates, the implant showed no adverse rejection reactions after six months. The team is now focusing on optimizing the coupling mechanism between the prosthesis and the retina. Once clinically applied, it could potentially help over 200 million people suffering from retinal degeneration (photoreceptor cell death) regain vision.

Unlike existing approaches like Neuralink's "Blindsight", which requires a head-mounted camera and brain electrode stimulation — offering only low initial resolution — the TeNWNs prosthesis requires only a single, minimally invasive, and reversible subretinal implant.

It replaces dead photoreceptor cells, directly activating retinal neurons with generated photocurrent. This not only improves visible light vision but may also grant patients the ability to perceive infrared light and recognize infrared patterns.