The key facts
- Science Corporation implanted the PRIMA chip in the first patient with Stargardt disease — the surgery took place in May at Sydney Eye Hospital
- At the first rehabilitation session the patient saw a letter, at the second — read a word
- PRIMA is already available in Europe for patients with geographic atrophy; Stargardt disease affects about 150,000 people worldwide
First implantation for Stargardt disease
Science Corporation CEO Max Hodak announced that the company implanted its vision-restoring PRIMA chip in the first patient with Stargardt disease — an inherited condition that gradually destroys central vision and is currently considered incurable. According to the company, the surgery took place in May as part of an ongoing trial at Sydney Eye Hospital in Australia. At the first rehabilitation session the patient saw a letter, and at the second was able to read a word. According to the company's estimates, about 150,000 people worldwide have lost their vision due to Stargardt disease.
How the device works
PRIMA is already commercially available in Europe for patients who have lost vision due to geographic atrophy — an advanced form of age-related macular degeneration. Implantation takes about an hour: a small chip is placed on the back wall of the eye at the site where photoreceptors have degenerated, and the patient then wears glasses with a camera that transmits the image to the implant, which works as artificial photoreceptors. Stargardt disease affects the outer retina, causing the death of light-sensitive cells, but may not affect the inner retina, which transmits signals to the brain, making the approach applicable.
Limitations and improvement plans
Hodak explained that the 2 by 2 millimeter implant provides a narrow field of view — 'like looking through a straw': the image is black-and-white but sharp and high-contrast, and the patient sees several letters at a time. The next step is expanding the field of view through a larger implant and smaller electrodes. According to him, the 'next-generation generation' will be tested in humans within the next year, and over five years the company expects to approach natural visual acuity.
The company's broader strategy
Hodak, previously president and co-founder of Neuralink, founded Science Corporation in 2021. He views retinal prostheses as a type of brain-computer interface: 'The retina is part of the central nervous system. We consider cochlear implants, retinal prostheses, and motor prostheses different types of BCI.' The company's own brain-computer interface, according to its earlier statements, will be placed inside the skull on top of the brain, unlike Neuralink's device, which is inserted into brain tissue. The first clinical application, according to Hodak, has not yet been publicly announced — it is a neurodegenerative disease; the company is also studying applications for stroke. The long-term mission, in his words, is to understand how the brain creates mind and to learn to create engineered brains. Hodak also expressed the view that many people will eventually use brain-computer interfaces: the company is not targeting 'healthy 40-year-olds,' but believes that by age 60–70 people may need a BCI.
