Phosphoenix

Product

Phosphoenix is developing a visual neuroprosthesis for people whose retina or optic nerve cannot deliver sight to the brain. A camera and processor would translate a scene into patterns of electrical stimulation, while the company’s high-density, flexible Fountain Probe targets the lateral geniculate nucleus, a relay in the brain’s visual pathway. Coordinated stimulation across more than 1,000 electrodes is intended to create simple visual percepts that could help users navigate and detect obstacles.

The approach builds on preclinical research in which electrical stimulation produced recognizable artificial patterns, but the commercial device remains in development. The company is advancing the probe and system toward clinical testing and preparing for a first-in-human study; it has not yet established a human therapeutic outcome. Its initial users would be patients with profound blindness, with neurosurgeons and clinical research partners central to implantation and evaluation.