Medicine & healthcare

Neuralink's Telepathy Receives FDA 'Breakthrough' Tag

SEP 19 2024·Updated SEP 20 2024

Story

Image credit: SOPA Images/Contributor/LightRocket via Getty Images

The Facts

Neuralink — billionaire Elon Musk's brain-chip startup — announced Tuesday that its experimental implant for restoring vision in patients, titled Telepathy, had received the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) "breakthrough device" designation.
Firstpost
The FDA distributes the designation to medical devices that diagnose or target life-threatening conditions, so as to speed up the development and review process for such technologies.
Reuters
Punch Newspapers
This designation is different from the FDA approving the device for general sale. It does however mean that Neuralink's creators and developers can now interact with FDA experts during its "premarket review phase."
Inc
Musk has stated via X that "[p]rovided the visual cortex is intact," Blindsight will make it possible for those born blind to see. While he said initially the vision would be "low resolution," he claimed further development could lead to it being "better than natural vision."
X
This comes as Neuralink's Telepathy — an implant meant to enable patients with spinal cord injuries to control computers with their thoughts — has been implanted in two human patients as of August.
Engadget

Sources Split

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CRIT

CENTER

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ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

Just when we thought Musk’s contributions were limited to Tesla and SpaceX, he surprises us with something as groundbreaking as Blindsight. This new medical development could be the X owner's great gift to society.

MINT

Narrative B

There are numerous biological obstacles related to the eyes — both in people who've lost their sight and those who have been blind since birth — that must be overcome before there's even the slightest hope of a breakthrough with this device. A cure for blindness is a long way off, and we should not be jumping to give Musk credit before any hard evidence of progress is provided.