The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday gave approval for a device that claims to help blind people to see with their tongues!

The BrainPort V100, a gadget that claims to help blind people to see with their tongues, was developed by Wisconsin-based Wicab.

The device translates visual information from a video camera into gentle electrical stimuli for the tongue.

These in turn are transmitted to a small, flat, lollipoplike device placed on a person's tongue. This oral device has a 400-electrode sensor array that draws corresponding pictures on the tongue, which is then transmitted to the brain.

Users of the device were able to interpret the signals to see where objects are located, how big they are and how quickly and in what direction they are moving.

William Maisel, chief scientist at the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement that medical device innovations like such have the potential to help millions of people.

It is very important that they should continue advancing the device technology to help blind Americans live better and far more independent lives, Maisel added.

According to the FDA, tests showed that 69% of 74 subjects were able to 'see' objects, thanks to the device.

It was found that some patients experienced 'burning, stinging or metallic taste' when putting part of the BrainPort V100 in their mouth, the FDA determined there were 'no serious device-related adverse events'.

Wicab got permission to sell the BrainPort V100 in Europe in 2013 after 15 years of research. And now, it can be marketed in the United States, where, according to the National Institutes of Health, 1.2 million people are blind.