Science Corporation has put its PRIMA chip into its first patient with Stargardt disease, a condition that damages central vision.
Founder Max Hodak announced the implant on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt this week. He said the patient is the first with Stargardt disease to receive the company's PRIMA chip, and he framed the surgery as part of a longer roadmap rather than a finished product. Hodak was previously president and co-founder of Neuralink before starting Science Corporation. On stage, he described the vision work as groundwork for a more ambitious goal: building a novel brain-computer interface.
Vision loss is an easier problem than full brain control. The eye is more accessible than the cortex, and partial sight restoration counts as a real win even with a crude interface. That makes PRIMA a plausible proving ground for the sensing and signal work Hodak needs before attempting what Neuralink is chasing: reading and writing to the brain directly instead of the eye.
Neuralink gets the headlines for wiring into the skull; Hodak's new company may be taking the slower, safer route in through the retina.