The Independent Implant Register has published its annual report for 2023. Reports of harm, faults and near misses from optical implants rose 14% on 2022.
Most of the rise came from a single firmware update for a consumer implant, which caused object labels to persist in wearers’ vision after they looked away. The first reports came from the aftercare clinic in Kisumu; the Register issued a signal nineteen days after the first report, and the maker, Kiroshi Opticals, released a fix eight days after that.
The Register counts a rise in reports as a sign that people are reporting, not necessarily as a rise in harm. It estimates that it hears of between a quarter and a half of all serious harm in the countries it covers.
The report also includes the Register’s first analysis of harm from discontinued devices, which produced 22% of all reports despite making up a far smaller share of implants worn.