ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION The World Health Organization estimates that 5% of the global burden of blindness is caused by age-related macular degeneration (AMD) (1). AMD is estimated to affect more than 8 million people in the United States; and as the population over the age of 85 increases, the prevalence of AMD is expected to increase accordingly (2,3). Although treatment for geographic atrophy (GA) remains of limited or no benefi t, there have been considerable improvements in the management of neovascular AMD to limit further visual loss. However no known treatment has been shown to restore useful vision once photoreceptors have been damaged severely, as in end-stage AMD. An emerging modality of treatment has been visual restoration through the use of visual prostheses (4).
