Neuralink’s new Blindsight implant can restore vision, says Elon Musk

The experimental implant was granted "breakthrough device" status by the US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday. Elon Musk expressed gratitude on X, noting that the device "will enable even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see."

New Delhi: In yet another groundbreaking invention, brain-computer interface company Neuralink has developed a Blindsight implant that can restore vision to people who lost both eyes, said founder Elon Musk on Wednesday.

The experimental implant received the US Food and Drug Administration’s “breakthrough device” designation on Tuesday.

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“Much appreciated, US FDA!” Musk said in a post on X, adding that the device “will enable even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see”.

Musk noted that the device can also help people blind since birth to see for the first time, if “the visual cortex is intact”.

He explained that “the vision will at first be a low resolution”, like in video game graphics. But advancements to the technology can make it “better than natural vision and enable you to see in infrared, ultraviolet or even radar wavelengths”, Musk pointed out.

Miracles for many unfolding,” said X CEO Linda Yaccarino, in a post on the social media platform.

The pioneering device has not yet begun human trials and neither the company nor the US FDA has indicated a timeline.

Separately, Neuralink is testing an implant designed to give quadriplegia patients the ability to use digital devices by thinking alone. The advanced technology may help people with spinal cord injuries.

The device comes with a chip that processes and transmits neural signals which could then be transmitted to devices like a computer or a phone.

Elon Musk founded Neuralink in 2016 along with a team of seven scientists and engineers who were experts in areas such as neuroscience, biochemistry, and robotics.

The company had earlier developed a novel chip that can help restore full body control in people suffering from paralysis. So far two people received the successful brain-chip implant, with the approval from US FDA.