Amid ongoing attempts to change the daily lives of quadriplegic patients by implanting computer implant chips into their brains, research results have shown that the vision of visually impaired people who had a chip implanted in their brains was partially restored.
A research team at the Illinois Institute of Technology recently announced the surgical results of a patient who had an implant chip implanted in the cerebral cortex. The patient in question is Brian Bersard, who completely lost his eyesight in 2016 due to retinal detachment.
According to the research team, after undergoing chip implant surgery in 2022, Bersad recovered his vision to the point where he can now ‘identify objects in a room and lift a plate.’
Professor Philip Troich of the Department of Biotechnology at Illinois Institute of Technology, who oversaw this research, explained, “Rather than saying that Bershard ‘recovered’ biological vision, it was closer to artificially creating vision.”
When we ‘see’ an object, it is the result of visual signal processing. Light from an object is imaged on the retina and converted into an electrical signal. This signal travels along the optic nerve to the visual cortex located at the back of the brain, where the signal is interpreted and the object is recognized.
The research team hypothesized that patients would be able to recognize objects by directly stimulating the visual cortex, bypassing the optic nerve. To achieve this, 25 small stimulator chips that emit weak electric currents were implanted in Brian’s brain. One chip is equipped with 16 electrodes thinner than a hair.
The camera mounted on Versard’s glasses processes the object with special software and transmits it to the electrodes, which then activates the 400 electrodes and moves the signal to the visual cortex. The research team explains that through this process, Versad is able to distinguish objects in the form of opaque spots.
Professor Troick said, “It is expected that the more electrodes on the implant chip and the stronger the current, the better it will be visible, but current above a certain level can cause side effects such as seizures or damage to brain tissue.” He added, “The optimal current considering performance and stability. “We must continue to find our level,” he emphasized.
The lifespan of the implant chip is also a key factor. Professor Troyk said, “The chip implanted in Bersad is only a mechanical device and cannot be said to be semi-permanent. “Follow-up research is needed to determine how long the current visual improvement effect will last,” he added.
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