Elon Musk’s brain-chip startup Neuralink has been in the news for a while now. On Tuesday, Neuralink announced that it has achieved another milestone. The company informed that it had received a “breakthrough device” designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). For those unaware, such a status is granted to medical devices that offer treatment or diagnosis for life-threatening conditions and is intended to accelerate the development and review process.
Neuralink’s brain chip is called Blindsight. The company says that this brain chip has the potential to allow even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see again. Excited, Musk took to his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to share the news. He further added that Blindsight will open new doors in medical science. However, Neuralink has yet to share specific details on when human trials for Blindsight may begin, We don’t have a word from the FDA on this either.
For the uninitiated, Neuralink was founded in 2016 by Elon Musk and a team of engineers. Together they have been working on a brain-chip interface that can be implanted in the skull. Once fully completed and successful, the company claims that this technology could potentially help disabled individuals regain movement, communication, and even vision.
So this brain chip works by processing and transmitting neural signals to external devices like computers or phones. Earlier this year, Neuralink had successfully implanted the brain chip in its second patient. He used it to play video games and design 3D objects.
Along with Blindsight, Neuralink is also working on another implant that will help paralysed patients use digital devices simply by thinking. Let’s see how these trials turn out and if these methods will be medically used in the future or not. What are your thoughts on it?