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Neuralink Competitor Restores Vision in Blind Patients With Eye Implant

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Elderberry:
Yahoo News by Frank Landymore 10/29/2024

Science Corporation, a biotech startup launched by a Neuralink cofounder, claims that it's achieved a breakthrough in brain-computer interface technology that can help patients with severe vision loss.

In preliminary clinical trials, legally blind patients who had lost their central vision received the company's retina implants, which restored their eyesight and even allowed them to read books and recognize faces, the startup announced last week.

"To my knowledge, this is the first time that restoration of the ability to fluently read has ever been definitively shown in blind patients," CEO Max Hodak, who was president of Neuralink before founding Science Corp, said in a statement.

The device, called Prima, is a small, photovoltaic chip that's surgically implanted under the retina. It combines with a special pair of glasses with a built-in camera that projects visual data into the eye chip using invisible, near-infrared light.

When the near-infrared rays hit the chip's photovoltaic arrays, it not only powers the device, but converts the transmitted data into electrical signals that stimulate the retinal neurons still remaining. These get sent to the brain, and voilà: you have rudimentary eyesight.

More: https://www.yahoo.com/news/neuralink-competitor-restores-vision-blind-191851301.html

Kamaji:
Wow.

berdie:
I had a friend whose mother participated in some of the early studies. Very brave. She was only able to see brief moments of light so it was tragic. I wish she could have lived to see more, as with this study. She hadn't been blind all her life. I am going to forward this article to her. So, thank you for posting.

I have, thru my life, tried to help the blind. It is such an important thing to me. I have volunteered at a pre-school for blind kids (very interesting experience), learned Braille (certified by the Library of Congress) and transcribed school books and recorded books for audio.

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