Explore deeper! Neuralink company looking for volunteers for first human trial

On Tuesday, Neuralink, a brain-computer interface company owned by Musk, announced that it had received approval from an independent review committee and would begin its first human trial. This trial aims to implant brain implant devices into the brains of paralyzed patients, and has begun recruiting patients for clinical trials

According to the announcement, the purpose of this trial is to evaluate the safety of the implant (N1) and surgical robot (R1), and to evaluate the initial functionality of the brain-computer interface to enable paralyzed patients to control it through their own thoughts external device

Thus, people who are paralyzed by cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis may be eligible to participate in the trial, but Neuralink did not disclose how many participants there will be.

According to reports from some Neuralink employees, Neuralink had earlier hoped to gain approval to implant the device in 10 patients, but after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) raised safety concerns, the company is working with The agency negotiates a reduction in patient volumes. It's unclear how many patients the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ultimately approved

Neuralink revealed that they plan to use robots to surgically place brain-computer interface (BCI) implants in areas of the brain that control the intention to move. Their original goal was to enable people to independently control a computer cursor or keyboard with their thoughts

According to the introduction, this human trial will last for six years, and participants will first participate in an 18-month study, and then spend at least two hours a week conducting research on brain-computer interfaces

Commercialization will take a long time

Looking back, in May of this year, Neuralink said that its first human clinical trial received FDA approval.

Musk has previously expressed that Neuralink’s short-term goal is to help paralyzed people communicate through thought typing. In the future, Neuralink will also be able to help paralyzed people regain their walking function, allow blind people to see again, and ultimately achieve symbiosis between humans and machines

Musk also claimed that he plans to one day receive Neuralink implants himself

According to previous predictions by McKinsey, in the next 10 to 20 years, the global brain-computer interface industry will create an economic value of US$70 billion to US$200 billion. Despite the promising market prospects, the industry is still in the early stages of development

Some experts say that although the brain-computer interface device has been proven to be safe for human use, Neuralink may still take more than a decade to obtain a license for commercial use

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