The Guardian’s view of electronic implants: a new way of seeing, not being | editorial

IIn medical terms, the eye is not the window to the soul, but to the spirit. The retina and the optic nerve are outgrowths of nervous tissue remarkable success The use of electronic implants to restore vision shows how far brain-computer interfaces have advanced. These have not produced a sci-fi vision of augmented humans with incredible new powers, but perhaps more gratifyingly, significant advances have been made in restoring the ability and agency of those who have suffered injury or illness.

People with age-related macular degeneration face a fading world. The disease affects approximately 600,000 people in the UKcauses progressive loss of central vision. There’s no cure, but new studies offer something different: a new perspective.

Patients at several trial sites across Europe, including Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, have been provided with one surgically implanted microchip in their retina. The chip is just 4mm square and 30 micrometers thick and acts as a pattern converter. Visual information recorded by a camera in glasses is transmitted via infrared light to the chip, which converts it into electrical signals detected by the retina, restoring the lost connection between the eye and the brain. After one year, 84% of patients were in 38-person trial were able to read letters and numbers using the device after previously losing their vision, with the average improvement equivalent to about five lines on a standard vision chart.

The boundary between mind and machine is shifting. Devices attached to the head to read brain waves have made this possible paralyzed people to type. Prosthetics are currently being tested are checked through sensors attached to the muscles and nerves remaining after amputation, and can also report signals back – restoring the sense of touch and proprioception. Last year, Elon Musk’s Neuralink company implanted a chip in typical hard-loading fashion directly into a volunteer’s brainwhich allows it to send basic commands to a computer.

The dangers should be obvious. In the macular degeneration study there were 26 “adverse events”including retinal damage requiring further surgery. As you go deeper into the brain, these risks multiply. Even then, the brain needs to be taught to read the signals – a reminder that these chips don’t yet speak the body’s language. (An AI algorithm was used to pick out text more clearly from the visual signals. This is a simple example of making AI’s unique data processing and pattern recognition power truly useful.)

With any new medical technology, cost and accessibility are issues. The Prima device from the test is under examination by the US Food and Drug Administration and EU regulators. CE marking from the latter would allow Prima to be considered for NHS supply. As with most prostheses, this is the result of partnerships between publicly funded medical researchers and a private biotech company that will handle eventual large-scale manufacturing. In 2022 the NHS Various multi-grips approved Prosthetic hands, controlled by non-invasive electrodes that read muscle signals, are widely available – and are being reported Costs of approx £13,000 to £37,000 per prosthesis, plus additional service costs over time. Prima and other devices in testing go one step further – a direct connection of advanced computer technology and the human nervous system. Few novels or films deal with cyborgs simply throwing a ball or reading a newspaper, but that seems to be our future, and that’s welcome.