The first Neuralink chip was implanted into a person

Powered by DELL E3 AI

The news, which raises many questions about the Neuralink chip, was reported by the company’s owner.

Elon Musk announced on Platform X that the first volunteer was implanted with a chip. “The first person received an implant from @Neuralink yesterday and is doing well,” Elon Musk tweeted, noting that initial results are promising. The billionaire announced that last Sunday the company Neuralink successfully performed brain surgery to implant a microchip.

The chip is called “Telepathy” and Elon Musk hopes it will allow people with disabilities like Stephen Hawking to communicate. Elon Musk said that the chip “will allow patients after surgery to control a phone or computer, and through them almost any device, just by thinking.” The announcement of human clinical trials occurred in less than a year after Neuralink received the green light from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to implant microchips.

The company aims to implant microchips in the brains of paralyzed people to help them control their bodies using only their thoughts. Neuralink announced in September that it would soon begin human trials to evaluate the safety of its implant. Details about the patient were not released, but Ashley Vance, who wrote a biography of Musk in 2015, noted that the ideal candidate for Neuralink’s first human trial was “an adult under the age of 40 who is quadriplegic.”

Ashley Vance explained that it would take a surgeon “a couple of hours” to perform the operation and another 25 minutes to insert the chip into the area of ​​the brain that controls hand movements.

However, Neuralink’s work has raised ethical concerns and skepticism among neuroscientists and other experts. Safety concerns remain even though the company has received FDA approval for human trials. Concerns include the device’s lithium battery, the possibility of implant wires penetrating the brain, and the ability to remove the device without damaging brain tissue.

The FDA approved the trial last May but did not disclose how initial human safety concerns were resolved. However, Elon Musk is not embarrassed by this, and he has great ambitions for Neuralink, because he believes that with With the help of microchips it will be possible to cure diseases such as obesity, autism, depression and schizophrenia.

The chip could allow the patient to use the Internet and have telepathic qualities. However, even if the device is found to be safe for human use, Neuralink it may take more than ten years to obtain permission to use it.

Source link