Musk’s Founder Neuralink Announces Blindsight Will Help Blind People See, Gets FDA Approval

Elon Musk’s brain chip startup Neuralink has announced Blindsight – an experimental vision restoration implant – that will attempt to restore sight to the blind.

The company announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday (Sept. 17) designated Blindsight as a “breakthrough device.”

With this announcement, the device enters the group of cutting-edge medical technologies that have been designed to treat serious health problems.

Blindsight is an attempt by Neuralink to restore people’s lost vision, even in cases where they have lost both eyes and their optic nerve.

Speaking about the device on board X, Musk said the advancement will “enable even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see.”

However, no announcement has been made by Neuralink on the timeline for human trials.

The Blindsight device will work by implanting an array of microelectrodes directly inside the brain’s visual cortex.

Neurons are activated by the network based on input from an external camera that creates a visual image.

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In theory, this technology could also provide a type of artificial vision to people who have not seen anything their entire lives and were born blind.

This is not the first time scientists have tried such technology. In the past, similar devices have been used to help the vision of visually impaired people.

Neuralink, however, differs from other brain-computer interface projects by attempting to add more electrodes to the implant, which has the potential to increase the vividness of the user’s vision.

But how much vision Blindsight would actually restore remains a question.

(With contributions from agencies)