Elon Musk’s Neuralink Receives Breakthrough Device Designation from FDA for Blindsight Implant

Elon Musk’s brain chip company Neuralink has been awarded “breakthrough device” status for an implant that will help blind patients regain their sight, the company announced Wednesday.

The experimental brain implant, called “Blindsight,” has won approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to participate in a voluntary program. It is one of 58 devices to receive that designation this year, according to the FDA.

Musk, who is known for making bold claims about his companies’ products long before they hit the market, celebrated the FDA’s decision by sharing a photo of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” actor LeVar Burton, whose character, Geordi La Forge, used a futuristic visor to see.

“Neuralink’s Blindsight device will enable vision even for those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve,” Musk wrote on X. “Provided the visual cortex is intact, it will enable vision even for those who were blind from birth.”

The FDA did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

The breakthrough device program aims to “accelerate the development, evaluation, and review for premarket approval” of medical devices to treat life-threatening or chronic diseases — provided they meet safety standards, according to the agency’s website.

“To set expectations correctly, the initial resolution will be low, like Atari graphics, but eventually it will have the potential to surpass human vision and enable vision in infrared, ultraviolet, and even radar wavelengths, like Geordi La Forge,” Musk added.

Musk co-founded Neuralink in 2016. It is one of many projects for the tech giant, which also owns X and artificial intelligence startup xAI, and serves as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.

Neuralink is also working on an implant that would enable paralyzed patients to use digital devices using their brains.

In January, Noland Arbaugh, a 30-year-old man from Arizona who was paralyzed from the neck down in a diving accident, became the first person to receive a Neuralink implant.

Last month, Musk announced that Neuralink had successfully implanted a brain chip into a second patient.

With postal wires