Neuralink aims to solve a range of medical problems by implanting chips into subjects’ skulls
Neuralink, the brain implant company of Elon Musk, hopes to use its technology to treat diseases such as paralysis and blindness, the company announced Thursday after receiving approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) , has been approved for human trials.
“We are pleased to share that we have received FDA clearance to initiate our first-in-human clinical study,” Neuralink tweeted. Scientists working on the project told Reuters in March that Musk had repeatedly predicted the technology would be approved for testing, but an application in early 2022 was rejected by the FDA.
approval is “This is an important first step, and one day our technology could help a lot of people,” The company stated that it is “Incredible work by the Neuralink team working closely with the FDA.”
Musk has previously said that his ambition is to make Neuralink “To restore full body function to persons whose spinal cords have been severed.”
Neuralink said it has not started plans to enroll participants, and the FDA has yet to formally comment on its decision to approve the technology for human testing. Last year, Musk said he was so confident in the device’s safety that he was willing to implant the chip in his own child’s brain.
In a demonstration, the company showed a prototype of the Neuralink implant, which is about the size of an ordinary coin and has been implanted in the skull of a monkey. The implant records neural activity and relays the information to an external device, such as a smartphone connected using Bluetooth.
In addition to helping with mobility or vision impairments, Musk says Neuralink could benefit people with depression, schizophrenia, and autism—even as a tool for web browsing and telepathic communication between subjects. Utilities.
Neuralink came under fire late last year over complaints of alleged animal welfare violations. A Reuters report in December said about 1,500 animals, including monkeys, sheep and pigs, were killed during the initial phase of testing.
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