Have you heard of Blindsight, the device that makes the blind see, even those born blind at birth? Well, that device was approved today, 17 September, by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The Blindsight device, developed by Elon Musk’s Neuralink, will enable those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see. The device will also enable those born blind at birth to see for the first time as well.
“The Blindsight device from Neuralink will enable even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see.
“Provided the visual cortex is intact, it will even enable those who have been blind from birth to see for the first time.
“To set expectations correctly, the vision will be at first be low resolution, like Atari graphics, but eventually it has the potential to be better than natural vision and enable you to see in infrared, ultraviolet or even radar wavelengths, like Geordi La Forge,” these are the words of Musk on 17th September, shortly after the US FDA approval.
Also in a tweet on the same day, Neuralink said: “We recently received Breakthrough Device Designation from the FDA for Blindsight. Join us in our quest to bring back sight to those who have lost it.”
Founded in 2016 by Musk and a group of engineers, Neuralink is building a brain chip interface that can be implanted within the skull, which it says could eventually help disabled patients to move and communicate again, and also restore vision.
According to Reuters, Neuralink’s device has a chip that processes and transmits neural signals that could be transmitted to devices like a computer or a phone.
The startup is separately testing an implant designed to give paralysed patients the ability to use digital devices by thinking alone, a prospect that could help people with spinal cord injuries.
“This trial is expected to enrol three patients to evaluate its device in a study expected to take several years to complete,” according to details on the US government’s clinical trials database
Earlier this year, Neuralink successfully implanted the device in the second patient, who has been using it to play video games and learn how to design 3D objects.
Musk’s Neuralink gets FDA’s breakthrough device tag for ‘Blindsight’ implant
CONVERSEER reports that the FDA’s breakthrough tag is given to certain medical devices that provide treatment or diagnosis of life-threatening conditions. It is aimed at speeding up the development and review of devices currently under development.
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