Blind participant receives wireless brain implant for artificial vision
Updated
Updated · Interesting Engineering · May 7
Blind participant receives wireless brain implant for artificial vision
15 articles · Updated · Interesting Engineering · May 7
The US procedure at Rush University Medical Center implanted 34 stimulators and 544 electrodes, becoming the third successful ICVP implantation in the clinical study.
After about four weeks, the participant will begin training at The Chicago Lighthouse to test whether signals from the visual cortex implant can support navigation and basic visually guided tasks.
Led by Illinois Institute of Technology with Johns Hopkins, the University of Chicago and others, the one-to-three-year trial is tracking safety, usability and adaptation while recruiting more adults with acquired blindness.
How does the brain learn to translate abstract light patterns from an implant into functional vision?
Can AI upgrade brain implants from simply seeing light patterns to actually recognizing faces?
Beyond technical success, how will bionic eyes bridge the financial gap to reach patients who need them most?