"An event of incredible significance": Russian scientists create a visual neuroimplant

A unique operation took place at the Sochi Research Institute of Medical Primatology on January 21.

Artur Biktimirov, a functional neurosurgeon from the Far Eastern Federal University, implanted a matrix with electrodes into the brain of a six-year-old male baboon.

The animal is sighted: at this stage of the project, scientists must check the operation of the implant, make sure that the brain tissues and the system are biocompatible, and it is important for the surgeon to work out the technique for performing such operations.

In the near future, scientists will conduct a series of behavioral experiments.

Experimental sighted monkeys will be taught to distinguish geometric shapes, and after the installation of neuroimplants, primates will try to do the same, but blindfolded, using electronic vision.

Preclinical trials are scheduled to be completed by 2024.

The device, which may restore the ability to see to people who have lost their sight, consists of several parts.

An implant with a microchip that stimulates the visual cortex of the brain with weak currents is fixed on the skull.

The microchip has an antenna that receives a signal from the hoop - it is put on the head, and the built-in cameras capture the image and broadcast the signal through a wireless sensor.

The microcomputer processes the image from the camera and helps to transfer the image in the right format (number of pixels, brightness) so as not to “irritate” the brain.

Moreover, the device can be adjusted for light and dark rooms, zoom in or out, and the voice assistant is ready to tell you the distance to the object.

Human clinical trials are expected to be completed in 2026, and the first installation operations can be carried out as early as 2027.

As the authors of the project say, they are already receiving many applications for participation, the selection of volunteers will begin in two years.

At this stage, the developers - the non-profit laboratory "Sensor-Tech" and the Foundation for the Support of the Deaf-Blind "Connection" - indicate three contraindications for the installation of a neuroimplant.

These are blindness from birth (a person must have visual experience so that the brain can interpret the picture transmitted to him), age under 25 or over 65 years old and severe general diseases.

"Operated on a monkey for the first time"

Artur Biktimirov has been practicing functional neurosurgery for over ten years.

His specialty is neuroimplantation of stimulation systems; during his practice, the doctor installed about a thousand such devices, of which 450 are at the Far Eastern Federal University, where he now works.

He told RT how the operation went and about the significance of the project for medicine.

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— I met the guys from the Sensor-Tech laboratory, who are leading this project, last fall.

From that moment on, we began to actively discuss my participation as a surgeon and the upcoming experiment itself.

Everything related to innovation is very interesting to me.

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- I operated on a monkey for the first time.

I prepared almost all my free time.

I studied anatomy, went to autopsies, studied monkey brains to understand how to work with them on the operating table.

Anatomically, the brain of a monkey differs from the human size, but otherwise - the same elements.

If you look through a microscope, then visually, probably, the tissues cannot be distinguished.

How was

“Just like normal procedures.

The anesthesiologist gave the monkey anesthesia, then we laid it on the operating table, fixed its head.

Then the surgical fields were processed, a skin incision was made, then a craniotomy, an opening of the dura mater, an implant was installed and the scalp was sewn up.

• © Press service of the Sensor-Tech laboratory

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- There was some excitement before the start, but the process was prepared to the smallest nuances, so there were no difficulties and everything went as usual.

We had a team of professionals: anesthesiologists, nursery representatives and an operating nurse who came with me.

We have already worked together so well that she understands me without words: I just extend my hand, and she gives me the right tool.

It must be understood that all neurosurgical operations are complex, any wrong movement can lead to irreversible consequences.

But for an experienced surgeon, many, even complex things, are routine, they have been worked out and are done automatically.

If we talk about this specific, then there are operations and more difficult.

The nuance was that, due to the size of the monkey, in no case could damage to the vessels and, as a result, blood loss be allowed.

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— Approximately 1,000-1,100 implantations of brain or spinal cord stimulation systems are performed in our country per year.

I did similar operations, for example, for the treatment of epilepsy.

We put electrodes, for a certain number of days we record epileptic activity in the brain from them, then we identify contact zones, then we reduce the levers.

In this case, a few days after we record the encephalogram, we remove the electrode from the brain, and then remove the focus of this activity.

There is an option when the electrodes that suppress epileptic activity remain in the brain.

In the same way, Parkinson's disease or chronic pain can be cured.

The electrodes suppress the abnormal functioning of the structure in the brain or turn it off, thus we achieve a decrease in the clinical manifestations of the pathology.

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“Currently, there are no available neurosurgical treatments for blindness.

It is possible to put an implant on the retina, but this is an operation on the eyes, not on the brain.

What do

“I would very much like to perform the operation on humans, if the team entrusts me with it.

I think that there will certainly be modifications of the neuroimplant by that time.

How it will look in practice - we will find out closer to 2023, but it is unlikely that the surgical technique will change radically.

In general, of course, the creation of a visual neuroimplant is an event of incredible significance.

Lost function prosthesis technology is a very important and completely new step in the development of medicine and innovative technologies, otherwise I would not have agreed to participate in this project.