Brain implant gives visibility to a blind woman | He began to distinguish between simple forms and characters

A 57-year-old woman who was blind 16 years ago, then began to create simple shapes and letters Brain implant surgery is installed in your vision cortex. This is an experimental and unpublished intervention by the team Biomedical Neuroscience Engineering from Miguel Hernandez University (UMH) Spanish city of Elke.

The intervention that led to the highest concept known to date in this type of syndrome, led by cell biologist Eduardo Fernandez Jover, who along with his team had already achieved the first successful experiment in animals in December 2020.

The display includes an implant placed in the cortex Intracardiac microelectrodes, which “safely” stimulate the part of the brain that provides functions to the eye. The device measures 4 mm on one side with 1.5 mm long electrodes. “This is the first time this type of brain transplant has been performed on a blind person, and the results are very encouraging for the development of a visual neurotransmitter,” Fernandez Jover celebrated.

The implant, the researcher pointed out to the Scientific Information and News Service (SINC), can help blind or visually impaired people improve their mobility and help them perceive the environment around them and orient themselves in a more ambitious way. It .. “There are many more issues to be resolved It is important to move forward little by little without creating false expectations“, Fernandez Joaver clarified.

How did the first brain implant for the blind come about?

The experiment lasted six months and involved a variety of experiments for the participant to learn visual lining and see possible changes, including creating video games to train the volunteer, a variation of the classic back-man.

A complete trigger system is also included An artificial retina that mimics the function of the human visual system, Located within ordinary mirrors, captured the visual field in front of it, which was converted into trains of electrical excitation optimal for stimulating the optic cortex nerves.

Key results of the study show that implantation does not affect the function of the cerebral cortex or nearby neurons. Even after many years of complete blindness, the human brain is still capable of processing visual information.

Finally, Fernandez Jover pointed out that the development of visual brain neuroblastosis is “essential for the future” because many blind people do not have treatments or effective assistive devices.

Currently, The research team is recruiting new blind volunteers to participate in these experiments Furthermore, in future studies, they hope to use sophisticated image coding capable of simultaneously inducing more electrodes to reproduce more complex visual images.