Elon Musk‘s firm, Neuralink says it has implanted a brain chip on its first human patient on Sunday and that the patient is recovering well.
Elon Musk made this known via a post on his X handle.
“Initial results show promising neuron spike detection,” Musk said in a post on the social media platform X on Monday.
Musk on Neuralink first brain chip implant
Spikes are activity by neurons, which the National Institute of Health describes as cells that use electrical and chemical signals to send information around the brain and to the body.
Neuralink got clearance last year from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to conduct its first trial to test its implant on humans, a critical milestone in the startup’s ambitions to help patients overcome paralysis and a host of neurological conditions.
In September, 2023 Neuralink announced it has received approval for recruitment for the human trial.
Using a robot, Neuralink could surgically place a brain-computer interface (BCI) implant in a region of the brain that controls the intention to move. The company said that its initial goal is to enable people to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts alone.
These signals will be transmitted using the implants’ “ultra-fine” threads in participants’ brains, the firm claims. The chip could be wirelessly connected to your brain and to your phone through bluetooth technology.
Its first product would be called Telepathy, Musk said in another post on X.
Neuralink focuses his early study on a trial for its wireless brain-computer interface to evaluate the safety of the implant and surgical robot.
Musk claims this brain chip could provide the future cure for blindness, mental illness and that human could get a chance to download their memories and store them in a chip.
Growing Brain Chip Technology
A number of rival companies have already implanted similar devices on humans with claims they have worked perfectly.
One of such attempts was carried out by the École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne (EPFL), in Switzerland, which has successfully enabled a paralysed man to walk just by thinking.
The École Polytechnique Fédérale’s feat was achieved by putting electronic implants on the patient’s brain and spine which wirelessly communicate thoughts to his legs and feet as published in peer-reviewed journal Nature in May 2023.
There has, however, been no independent verification of Musk’s Neuralink’s claims.
Musk is world’s richest person with a net worth of $204.7 billion and Neuralink is currently valued at $5 billion.
