The first human trials of Neuralink’s brain-computer interface are being sought
Neuralink: An implant-based brain-to-computer device for helping paralysis control prostheses and to restore vision in future human trials
Neuralink is looking for test subjects just a few months after FDA approval for human trials. The trial is intended to assess Neuralink’s ability to help patients with paralysis control devices. The company is seeking people who are over the age of 22 with a reliable and consistent family member to participate in the study.
This is not the full-blown brain computer Musk has been talking about for years. Neuralink plans to test a system that’s not close to Musk’s ambitions of telepathy and being able to keep up with artificial intelligence.
Researchers have long been testing implants that let people with paralysis control computers and other devices, too. Two recently published studies, for instance, showed brain-to-computer interfaces could help patients with ALS communicate by typing on a computer.
Company representatives did not immediately respond to an email requesting an interview after Neuralink refused to specify where the trial will take place.
Neuralink’s coin-sized implant is not visible when implanted, according to the company. It records neural activity using 1,024 electrodes, distributed across 64 threads, each thinner than a human hair.
During the study, the robot will surgically place the implant into a part of the brain that controls movement intention. Once in place, the implant is designed to record and transmit brain signals wirelessly to an app that decodes movement intention.
The company has not revealed the exact region of the brain its device will be embedded in, which hospital has given the institutional review board approval, nor how many participants it will ultimately enroll in the study.
There are at least two possible uses for the implant: to help people with paralysis control tech devices and to restore vision. There wasn’t a mention of a vision prostheses in today’s release.
Elon Musk’s Neuralink has received US Food and Drug Administration’s approval to conduct a human test of its brain-to-computer device for helping people with paralysis control prostheses and to restore vision. It is seeking people who are over the age of 22 with a reliable and consistent family member to participate in the study. The implant is not visible when implanted.