first human implant Neuralink

It’s been almost three years since Elon Musk showed the world a monkey playing pong. It was the first public demonstration of Neuralink, a project that aims to create a brain interface that helps people cope with certain disabilities and also “unlock the human potential of tomorrow.”

Neuralink, like many of the tycoon’s projects, developed more slowly than expected. For example, towards the end of 2021, the businessman promised that clinical trials of Neuralink implants on humans would begin in six months. Six months have not passed, but the goal has been achieved. according to Musk.

First person with Neuralink

In a post on X, Musk announced on Tuesday that Neuralink has created its first human implant. There aren’t many details, but it is known that the procedure was performed yesterday, the patient is “recovering well” and that “initial results show promising detection of neuronal spikes.”

The milestone for the company, founded by Elon Musk in 2016 and led by Jared Birchall, comes with approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It should be noted that this federal agency rejected the company’s first request, made by early 2022. but gave the go-ahead in May last year.

It is worth noting that Neuralink is not the first company of its kind to reach the clinical trial stage. The American startup Synchron has already installed five implants in patients by July 2022. They, according to the company, managed to communicate via email, send text messages and perform other tasks.

In this first phase, the Musk-owned company must evaluate the performance and safety of the BCI (brain-computer interface) implant. It has 1024 electrodes that record neuronal activity. And since the implant requires millimeter precision, the company has a surgical robot that is responsible for this process.

Images: Neuralink | Steve Jurvetson

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