Elon Musk’s brain Implant company Neuralink Announced We are one step closer to implanting brains into humans.
today, the company said It said it plans to begin recruiting paralyzed patients to test an experimental brain implant and has received approval from the hospital’s institutional review board. These committees are independent committees assembled to monitor biomedical research involving human subjects and report concerns to researchers. Neuralink calls this the “Prime Study,” which stands for “Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface.”
Neuralink did not say where the trial would be held, and a company representative did not immediately respond to WIRED’s email request for an interview.
Neuralink is one of the few companies developing brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), systems that collect brain signals, analyze them, and translate them into commands that control external devices. In May, the company announced on X (formerly Twitter) that it had received the following approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Conducting the first in-human clinical studyHowever, no further details were disclosed at that time.
in Post to website Today, Neuralink says the original goal of BCI was to “allow people to control their computer cursors and keyboards with just their thoughts.” The clinical trial will test the safety of the company’s implants and surgical robots and evaluate the functionality of the BCI.
Neuralink created: patient register For those who want to know if they are eligible to participate in this study. Neuralink says in a brochure on its website that it seeks participants with quadriplegia, meaning paralysis in all four limbs. Due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), be at least 22 years old. Those selected to participate will undergo a combination of nine home visits and in-person clinic visits over 18 months. Neuralink expects this research to take six years to complete.
According to the company, Neuralink’s coin-sized implants are unnoticeable when implanted. It records neural activity using her 1,024 electrodes distributed across his 64 threads, which are thinner than a human hair.
During the study, the robot will surgically place an implant in the part of the brain that controls motor intention. Once in place, the implant is designed to record brain signals and send them wirelessly to an app that deciphers motor intentions.
The company did not disclose the exact area of the brain where the device would be implanted, which hospital granted Institutional Review Board approval, or how many participants would ultimately participate in the study.
On Neuralink’s “Show and Tell” last November, Musk talked about two possible uses for the implant. These include assisting people with paralysis with control technology equipment and restoring their eyesight. However, there was no mention of visual aids in today’s release.
Neuralink is one of the few companies competing to bring BCI to market. Although such devices have been used experimentally since his 1960s, none are commercially available. Other research efforts, primarily in the laboratory, have made it possible for people with paralysis to control computers and prosthetic limbs with their thoughts and to speak through computers.
One of Neuralink’s competitors, Synchron, has shown that its implants can be used at home to allow paralyzed patients to bank online, shop, and send email. The company’s implant resembles a flexible mesh stent and is placed against the brain through the jugular vein, rather than being inserted directly into the brain.
Two former Neuralink employees have launched their own BCI venture. Founded by former Neuralink President Max Hodax Science Co., Ltd. In 2021, the company plans to develop a prosthetic leg that will provide artificial vision to visually impaired people. And Benjamin Rapoport, a former member of Musk’s team, founded Precision Neuroscience in 2020. Earlier this year, the company temporarily placed implants in the brains of three patients to test the device’s ability to read and record electrical activity.
