"Thousands of micro-electrodes grouped into delicate strands going into the brain, directly triggering the view of tiny dots of light that compose a simple image. Surely that must sound familiar to those following Neuralink's story," says Maarten Schelles, CTO of ReVision implant. "But there are some important differences, too." The young CTO, who recently completed a PhD in engineering, seems eager to take on the challenge of restoring useful vision to blind people. "We are much more focused on long-term stability, having a dedicated and patented system to keep the electrodes in place," he explains. "And we've also made design choices to ensure a product lifetime of over 20 years. And we stimulate in a smarter way—getting more out of the system without needing to increase the electrode count even further."
"ReVision Implant was founded in 2020 with the sole purpose of bringing back useful vision to blind people," says Frederik Ceyssens, the company's co-founder and CEO. "Several efforts were underway globally at that time too, but in my opinion they were not ambitious enough to yield a minimum viable product."
"When I started 5 years ago, there was very little there - except our background in basic neurotechnology research. But we were really fortunate to be based here in Leuven, Belgium's hub for micro- and nanotechnology. Thanks to our access to excellent infrastructure, we've been able to do this on a shoestring budget. And of course, our collaborations with academic research groups have been instrumental to connect to valuable expertise and support"
To carry out its animal and human trials, ReVision is collaborating with several major European players in the neurotechnology space. The research group of Peter Janssen at KU Leuven conducted monkey trials that, as early as two years ago, showed that ReVision’s implant could elicit visual perceptions in non-human primates.
Now, the company is preparing for its first proof-of-concept tests in human patients. Researchers in Hungary led by Dr. Short-term volunteer trials will begin at the end of this year, led by Dr. Lucia Wittner’s team in Hungary. These will be followed by a longer-term study coordinated by Dr. Eduardo Fernandez in Spain. Dr. Fernandez is a veteran in the field of visual prosthetics research, and has previously demonstrated the transmission of simple shapes to a blind person using an earlier-generation brain implant with a more limited number of electrodes.
The company is supported by imec, the world's leading nanotechnology R&D center, alongside early-stage investors, the U.S.-based Plug&Play Tech Center, as well as by the European union's EIC programme through the FlairVision project. The company currently has two active strategic research collaborations with publicly listed medtech firms interested in its platform.
ReVision is currenty raising a new funding round to advance its prototypes into a marketable product.
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Media Contact
Company Name: ReVision Implant
Contact Person: Frederik Ceyssens
Email: Send Email
Phone: +32 494 465566
Address:Blandenstraat 31, 3053
City: Haasrode
Country: Belgium
Website: www.revision-implant.com
