Neuralink recruiting people with paralysis for first human trials
On Tuesday, Elon Musk’s Neuralink announced it was ready to start its first human trials.
“We are happy to announce that we’ve received approval from the reviewing independent institutional review board and our first hospital site to begin recruitment for our first-in-human clinical trial,” noted a blog on the company’s website.
“The PRIME Study (short for Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface) – a groundbreaking investigational medical device trial for our fully-implantable, wireless brain-computer interface (BCI) – aims to evaluate the safety of our implant (N1) and surgical robot (R1) and assess the initial functionality of our BCI for enabling people with paralysis to control external devices with their thoughts.”
Imagining a world where Stephen Hawking had access to BCI
The company was looking for people affected by quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Musk reshared the company’s X post on Wednesday explaining that the technology had the “potential to restore full body movement.” He added that one could only imagine what would have happened if Stephen Hawking had access to this invention.
The first human patient will soon receive a Neuralink device. This ultimately has the potential to restore full body movement.
In the long term, Neuralink hopes to play a role in AI risk civilizational risk reduction by improving human to AI (and human to human) bandwidth by… https://t.co/DzqoYI27Ng
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 20, 2023
Musk established the neurotechnology firm Neuralink in July 2016. The company is based in San Francisco, California, and its main objective is to create solutions for brain-machine interfaces (BMI). The goal of these interfaces is to close the communication gap between the brain and computers or other external devices. The ultimate mission of Neuralink is to establish a direct interface between the brain and technology in order to improve human intellect and treat neurological illnesses.
Neuralink’s N1 implant is a system that may be placed in the brain to monitor neural activity and perhaps even stimulate neurons. Neuralink always intended to eventually perform human trials after completing the N1 implant’s initial testing on lab animals.
So far, the creation of safe and efficient brain-computer connections has presented a challenging set of technological and moral issues. Neuralink has improved electrode design and implantation methods, however, there are still challenges to overcome in terms of long-term safety and regulatory approvals.
The new human research may just address these complications.
In the new trials, the revolutionary N1 Implant will be surgically placed in a region of the brain that controls movement intention. The R1 Robot will enable this process to take place via surgical implantation. The tests will then evaluate whether people can operate a computer cursor or keyboard using only their thoughts. This is the BCI’s main objective.
Past open demonstrations of tests conducted on pigs
In the past, Neuralink has held open demonstrations, including live-streamed events where they showed off implanted devices in pigs and talked about their technology.
The new technology has the potential to be used in a variety of ways, including in the treatment of neurological diseases, the restoration of sensory functioning for those with disabilities, and even the enhancement of human capacities like improved memory or direct thought-to-thought communication.
Neuralink noted that “the PRIME Study is being conducted under the investigational device exemption (IDE) awarded by the FDA in May 2023.”
Source: Interesting Engineering
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Neuralink recruiting people with paralysis for first human trials