Blind people regain sight: A co-founder of Elon Musk's Neuralink achieves a milestone in artificial vision

Restoring Sight to the Blind, truly remarkable.

This might be the most understated yet most dazzling technological advancement in 2025.

The latest issue of Nature has published a new research progress. Artificial vision technology has just helped a 70 - year - old grandmother regain her sight.

Before I went blind, I was an avid bookworm. I want to get that back.

The greatest wish of 70 - year - old Sheila Irvine was to be able to read again, and recently her wish came true.

The reason lies in a world - first artificial vision research project, PRIMA.

The person leading the team behind it is also the co - founder who founded Neuralink with Elon Musk back then. Now he has started his own business, still working on retinal implants.

With a thickness only as thin as a single hair, it can significantly improve the vision of 80% of patients, enabling them to read letters, numbers, and words smoothly.

Regarding this, Frank Holz, the lead author of the paper, said:

This study is the first to prove that artificial vision can restore the functional central vision of patients, bringing hope to the blind.

For the patients themselves and their families, perhaps this will be a precious opportunity for a reunion in their twilight years:

She Finally Regained Her Sight After 15 Years of Blindness

Before participating in the experiment, Sheila described herself like this:

My eyes were like two black discs with a distorted outer edge.

The story dates back 15 years when she first noticed that she had no control while driving and kept hitting the sidewalk. When she went to the hospital, she was diagnosed with age - related macular degeneration (AMD).

This is a common disease among the elderly. After getting sick, the cells in the tiny area of the retina at the back of the patient's eyes will gradually be damaged and die, eventually leading to blurred or distorted central vision.

Although Sheila Irvine quickly accepted the fact and learned to live with the darkness, reading always remained a deep - seated desire in her heart.

The turning point came in 2022 when she participated in this research as a trial subject.

Through surgery, the implant was inserted under the retina, and after years of intensive rehabilitation treatment, she was finally able to pick up her beloved books again. Now she can even recognize the tiny words on cans independently.

Previously, for AMD patients, regaining sight was simply a pipe dream.

Firstly, according to the symptoms and development speed, AMD can be roughly divided into two types: dry (atrophic) and wet (neovascular) AMD.

Among them, there are more than 5 million patients with advanced dry AMD (geographic atrophy, GA) globally. They can't recognize their family members' faces, read normally, or drive a car... Every aspect of their lives is severely disrupted.

Scientists have also proposed a series of treatment plans:

A common one is to use stem - cell therapy to regenerate photoreceptors. Specifically, it involves differentiating RPE or photoreceptor cell layers from embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), then implanting them into the retina, and forming synapses with the patient's original neurons to guide functional recovery.

However, it is still in the clinical trial stage, and there are still problems with immune rejection and long - term stability.

Some scientists have also considered introducing light - sensitive proteins into the remaining neurons to make them sensitive to light signals again. This therapy has achieved the expected results in some early - stage clinical trials.

Even more, some directly consider inserting implants into the visual cortex of the brain or using gene - therapy methods to repair gene mutations such as RPE65, CFH, C3, and ABCA4.

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However, most of these methods only slow down vision loss. Regarding this, Dr. Mahi Muqit, one of the paper's authors, once said:

When you talk to patients with severe vision loss, you'll find that slowing down vision loss is just a stop - gap measure. What they really want is restoration.

Currently, only PRIMA can truly reverse and restore vision.

First - Time Realization of Vision Restoration in Patients

The principle of PRIMA is actually quite simple, which is to become a substitute for light - sensitive cells.

Although AMD causes the death of light - sensitive cells, the retinal neurons survive. So, as long as a suitable new "light - sensitive cell" is found to simulate the pattern of photons hitting the retina and electrically stimulate the retina, vision can be restored.

Thus, PRIMA (Photovoltaic Retinal Implant Microsystem Array) came into being. Different from previous retinal devices, it is wireless, and as a photovoltaic component, the photons that activate it also serve as its power input.

The entire device consists of a small photovoltaic retinal implant (sized 2mmx2mmx30μm) and a pair of special glasses. The camera on the glasses can capture image information and convert it into an infrared beam, which is then received by the retinal implant.

The implant then sends the information to a small processor to enhance and clarify the image. Finally, with the assistance of retinal neurons, the information is transmitted back to the patient's brain, completing the restoration of vision.

The whole process is similar to a miniature solar panel. The implant located in the atrophied area of the retina acts as an artificial photoreceptor array, stimulating the transmission of visual signals from the remaining cells.

With its ultra - thin profile and seamless wireless integration, PRIMA can directly restore the lost functional vision of GA patients, rather than just slowing down the disease process like traditional therapies.

This project has also been verified in clinical trials.

The research team recruited 38 GA patients from 17 clinical sites in 5 countries with a visual acuity of 1.2 logMAR (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution) or above, and evaluated the wearers' vision at 6 months and 12 months respectively.

Among them, 32 participants completed the final evaluation. Among the 6 patients who did not participate, 3 died, 1 withdrew, and 2 were unable to participate in the test.

The experimental results show that the PRIMA system can restore the functional central vision of 84% of patients. 80% of patients achieved an improvement of 0.2 logMAR, which is equivalent to being able to see two more lines on the standard visual acuity test chart, with an average improvement of 25.5 letters (about 5 lines).

In addition, in the first two months after the surgery, although some patients had rejection reactions, including increased intraocular pressure, retinal tears, and bleeding, 95% of the symptoms subsided within two months after the onset, and there was no significant decline in the patients' original peripheral natural vision.

Overall, the experimental results met the expected goals set for the PRIMA system, and the benefits to patients outweigh the risks of the implantation surgery.

Moreover, this device can not only be applied to AMD patients. For diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa, as long as the retinal neurons are still functioning even though the photoreceptor cells have died, PRIMA can be helpful.

Currently, PRIMA has submitted relevant applications to European regulatory authorities and plans to be officially launched next year. Meanwhile, in the United States, the FDA approval process is also underway.

However, the researchers also admit that the current system has limitations. The experimental results may have been influenced by intensive visual training and the patients' excitement, and there is a lack of a control group of patients who completed the training but did not receive the implant.

There is also room for improvement in the maximum acuity that PRIMA can achieve. Currently, the system only contains 381 pixels, each pixel being 100 square micrometers. The overall reading process for users is not fast and smooth, and the visual effect is only in black and white.

Therefore, the research team is also developing the next - generation implants and glasses, which will further optimize visual performance through digital image processing and simplified ergonomics, achieving smaller, more effective pixels than PRIMA and having color vision.

And PRIMA is just the first step they've taken.

The Founder Was a Co - Founder of Musk's Neuralink

Behind it is the Science Corporation. As a neurotechnology company founded in 2021, you may not be very familiar with it.

But when it comes to the company's founder, Max Hodak, he has another identity - the co - founder of Musk's brain - computer interface company, Neuralink.

After obtaining a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering, he first founded the life - science company Transcriptic. After serving as CEO for five years, he then co - founded Neuralink with Musk and served as its president.

Neuralink mainly hopes to achieve direct interaction between the brain and a computer through implantable brain - computer interface technology. It can not only help patients restore their physical sensory functions but also hopes to establish a symbiotic relationship with artificial intelligence in the long run.

After leaving Neuralink, Max Hodak founded Science Corporation again, focusing on neural engineering, brain - computer interfaces, and devices and technologies for treating patients with impaired vision, cognition, and mobility.

For example, the ultra - thin flexible neural probes, Thin Film Probes, for neural signal acquisition and stimulation, and the Silicon Axon probes constructed based on silicon materials.

At the same time, it has its own micro - medical chip manufacturing factory, which can be used to produce MEMS and IC chips required for medical - grade neural implants, achieving full autonomy from materials, manufacturing to clinical trials.

Currently, Science Corporation completed a round of financing led by Khosla Ventures in April this year, raising over $100 million