Science视网膜芯片首例植入Stargardt患者
Science Corporation 在 TechCrunch Disrupt 上宣布，其视觉修复芯片 PRIMA 已在澳大利亚悉尼眼科医院完成首例 Stargardt 病患者植入，手术于今年 5 月进行；患者在首次康复训练中看到了一个字母，第二次训练时能读出一个单词。该芯片约 2×2 毫米，植入视网膜感光细胞退化处，配合带摄像头的眼镜工作，目前提供黑白、高对比度的小范围视野；PRIMA 已在欧洲获批用于地图状萎缩（一种晚期年龄相关性黄斑变性），公司认为同一路径可拓展至 Stargardt 病等目前无法治愈的眼病。CEO Max Hodak（Neuralink 前总裁兼联合创始人）称下一代植入体将在一年内进入人体试验，并希望五年内接近原生视力；全球约 15 万人因 Stargardt 病失明。
若按公司计划推进，视网膜假体可能为目前无法治愈的遗传性眼病提供可商业化的治疗路径，并为更广泛的脑机接口应用积累临床经验。
Science Corporation CEO Max Hodak announced that the company has implanted its vision-restoring chip, PRIMA, into its first patient with Stargardt disease, an inherited eye disease that gradually destroys central vision. Hodak, the former president and co-founder of Neuralink, the brain implant company, explained onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt how the company’s work with PRIMA fits into its broader pursuit of a novel brain-computer interface (BCI).
“The retina is part of the central nervous system,” Hodak said. “We consider cochlear implants, retinal prostheses, motor prostheses, these are all different types of BCIs.”
Hodak outlined a vision in which BCIs expand into a wide range of medical technology applications, rather than simply being a way to control computers.
While PRIMA is commercially available in Europe for patients who’ve lost their sight to geographic atrophy, an advanced form of age-related macular degeneration, the company believes its approach can be applied to multiple diseases, including Stargardt disease, which is currently considered incurable.
Stargardt disease affects the outer retina, causing the gradual death of the eye’s light-sensing cells while potentially sparing the inner retina, the part that passes visual signals onto the brain. It causes a central blind spot that gradually enlarges over time. Approximately 150,000 people worldwide have lost vision due to the disease.
#Science Corporation#PRIMA#Max Hodak#Neuralink#Sydney Eye Hospital