Imagine a world where blindness, even from birth, could be gone. Here’s our deep dive:

Neuralink has scored a major win for its Blindsight implant, designed to restore patients’ lost sight, with the FDA granting it the “Breakthrough Device Designation.”

Breakthrough Device Designation helps speed up the approval process for medical technology that is deemed lifesaving, or treats the most extreme medical issues. Blindsight is designed to help restore patients’ eyesight, even if they’ve lost both eyes and the optic nerve.

Neuralink announced the news via X.

We have received Breakthrough Device Designation from the FDA for Blindsight.

Join us in our quest to bring back sight to those who have lost it. Apply to our Patient Registry and openings on our career page https://t.co/abBMTdv7Rh

— Neuralink (@neuralink) September 17, 2024

Elon Musk provided more info, saying the initial results would be limited, but eventually could rival science fiction examples, like Star Trek’s Geordi La Forge.

The Blindsight device from Neuralink will enable even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see.

Provided the visual cortex is intact, it will even enable those who have been blind from birth to see for the first time.

To set expectations correctly, the vision… https://t.co/MYLHNcPrw6 pic.twitter.com/RAenDpd3fx

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 17, 2024