Tesla boss Elon Musk’s start-up company “Neuralink” has used a wireless brain computer chip on a patient for the first time. The first person received the implant on Sunday and is recovering well, Musk wrote on the social media platform X.
Neuralink’s first product will be called “Telepathy,” Musk wrote in a separate post. Neuralink’s implant is intended to make it possible to use your thoughts to operate a smartphone – and other technology. Other companies and researchers are also working on such technology.
Last year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave Musk’s company the green light for an initial study with the implant on humans; before that, the technology had been tested on monkeys. The aim of the study is to evaluate the functionality of the device, which will enable people with paralysis of all four limbs to control devices with their thoughts, according to the company’s website.
The clinical study is designed to last six years
The implant has 1,024 electrodes that a robot connects to the brain using an extremely fine needle. For the clinical study, Neuralink was looking for patients with quadriplegia – a paraplegia that affects the legs and arms: When people start to move, a certain area in the brain becomes active. The electrodes pick up these signals. It should be enough to imagine a movement, for example to operate a cursor on the computer. Musk wrote on Monday that initial results showed “promising” detection of neural activity. There were initially no further details. Even with successful operations, it can take months for patients to learn to control computers with their minds. Neuralink’s clinical trial is designed to last six years.
Research into brain-computer interfaces of this type has been going on for years and some people have already had various implants inserted. Neuralink also has several competitors who also want to use the technology commercially. The company “Precision Neuroscience” wants to attach its implant, also with 1024 electrodes, to the brain on a film through a very fine cut in the skull in a minimally invasive manner. And its rival “Synchron” brings its system with 16 electrodes via blood vessels close to the right areas of the brain.
Neuralink advertised the study for test subjects last September. It is not known how many patients the FDA ultimately approved. Neurotechnology company has been developing brain implants since 2016. Musk wants to use the interfaces to cure neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, dementia and spinal cord injuries.