Science Corporation has successfully implanted its vision-restoring chip, PRIMA, into its first patient diagnosed with Stargardt disease, an inherited condition that progressively damages central vision. Max Hodak, CEO of Science Corporation and former president and co-founder of Neuralink, announced the milestone, viewing it as a significant step in the company's broader ambition to develop advanced brain-computer interfaces (BCIs).
The Stargardt disease patient received the PRIMA implant in May as part of an ongoing trial at the Sydney Eye Hospital in Australia. During initial rehabilitation sessions, the patient demonstrated the ability to perceive letters and subsequently read a word. The PRIMA device functions as artificial photoreceptors, requiring patients to wear camera-equipped glasses that transmit visual data to a small chip implanted at the back of the eye, where photoreceptors have degenerated.
Hodak described the current implant as providing sharp, high-contrast black and white vision within a limited field of view, akin to looking through a straw. He noted that the company is working on a next-generation implant with a larger field of view and aims to achieve near-native visual acuity within five years. PRIMA is already commercially available in Europe for patients with geographic atrophy, a severe form of age-related macular degeneration.
Science Corporation, founded in 2021, initially focused on advanced neural engineering and BCIs. Hodak explained that the company considers the retina part of the central nervous system and views devices like retinal prostheses as types of BCIs. Beyond vision restoration, the company envisions BCIs being applied to a wide array of medical technologies, including potentially addressing neurological conditions like those caused by stroke or brain tumors, and ultimately understanding how the brain creates the mind.
