From the video camera to the visual cortex

In the USA, a vision-restoring chip will be tested on people.
It is implanted directly into the brain

Elizaveta Ivtushok, N+1

Clinical trials of an implant capable of restoring partial or complete vision loss have been approved in the USA. The chip for insertion into the cerebral cortex was developed by Second Sight, which specializes in vision restoration technologies. The company has received the appropriate permission from the US Department of Health and has planned the first experiments for the end of this year. This is reported in the official press release of Second Sight.

The development of technologies in the field of medicine in the last twenty years has allowed many patients to restore previously lost functions. Thus, neurocomputer interfaces restore the spinal cord and allow previously fully or partially paralyzed limbs to function. 

In the field of vision restoration, the American company has achieved the greatest success Second Sight, which manufactures bionic eye prostheses: Its Argus II system has a state monopoly on the commercial distribution of retinal prostheses in the United States. 

Argus II works by transmitting a signal from glasses equipped with a camera to a small wearable processor, which, in turn, transmits a signal to the electrodes of an artificial retina implanted in the area of the optic nerve. This technology is primarily able to help people suffering from retinitis pigmentosa, a type of retinal dystrophy characterized by complete or partial loss of vision. The bionic eye partially restores the lost functions of the optic nerve: a person who wears such a device can distinguish between light and movement.

As it became known, at the end of August, Second Sight received permission to conduct clinical trials of a new high–tech device - an invasive stimulator of the visual cortex. The permit was issued by the Food and Drug Administration (Food and Drug Administration, abbreviated as FDA) U.S. Department of Health. 

Orion, the company's new technology, operates on almost the same principle as Argus II, but does not use a retinal prosthesis in its system. Instead, the image obtained through glasses equipped with a camera is converted into a set of signals using a small portable processor. These signals are transmitted to a chip that is implanted directly into the brain – in the area of the primary visual cortex (a small part of the occipital lobes of the cerebral cortex). 

The chip stimulates a small population of healthy neurons in the visual cortex, as a result of which vision is partially restored (the ability to distinguish light appears). The developers claim that this technology is able to restore partially or even completely lost vision in patients not only with retinitis pigmentosa, but also, for example, with glaucoma and retinopathy caused by diabetes.

In 2015, the company has already successfully tested Orion on animals. The launch of clinical trials involving people with partial or complete vision loss is scheduled for the end of this year. Further development of the technology (including its commercial promotion) has not yet been reported.

Second Sight is not the only leader in the development of vision restoration technologies. So, earlier we wrote about the retina implant created by Pixium Vision. In 2016, the company began a long-term clinical trial of its technology. The estimated date of its completion is 2020.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  21.09.2017