In an exciting development, the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given conditional approval to the makers of the world’s first commercial artificial retina to conduct a small-scale clinical trial of a brain implant designed to restore vision.

The development company, Second Sight, already produce the Argus II bionic eye which relays signals via a specially adapted pair of glasses to an external processor. The new device, named the Orion, is a modified version of the Argus II. It will relay messages directly to the visual cortex of the brain using an array of surgically-implanted electrodes.

The clinical trial will involve five US-based patients, and Second Sight hope to have implanted the devices by December 2017. Robert Greenberg, Second Sight’s board chair, sees massive potential in the new development, claiming that “anyone who had vision but has lost it from almost any cause could potentially be helped by the Orion technology.”

Sources:

1. MIT Technology Review:
   Blind Patients to Test Bionic Eye Brain Implants.

2. Second Sight:
   Second Sight Announces Successful Implantation and Activation of Wireless Visual Cortical Stimulator in First Human Subject.