Science Corp Implants PRIMA Vision Chip in Patient

According to TechCrunch, Science Corporation CEO Max Hodak announced at TechCrunch Disrupt that the company implanted its PRIMA vision-restoring chip into its first patient with Stargardt disease in May at Sydney Eye Hospital. Stargardt disease is an inherited eye condition that gradually destroys central vision by causing light-sensing cells in the outer retina to die. The procedure involves an hourlong operation to place a small two-millimeter chip in the back of the eye. Patients also wear camera-equipped glasses that transmit visual information to the chip, which acts as an artificial photoreceptor to send electrical signals down the optic nerve.

This medical milestone demonstrates progress in brain-computer interfaces, which include medical technologies like retinal prostheses, cochlear implants, and motor prostheses. Stargardt disease currently lacks a cure and affects approximately 150,000 people globally. While the PRIMA device is already commercially available in Europe for geographic atrophy related to age-related macular degeneration, expanding its application to Stargardt disease represents a step toward treating multiple degenerative eye conditions.

Science Corporation plans to develop next-generation implants with wider fields of view and higher electrode density within the next year, aiming to achieve native visual acuity levels over the next five years.