Elon Musk's company can start testing brain implants on humans, control with thought can come

Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk's startup Neuralink, known for developing a chip that can be implanted in the brain, has announced that it has received permission to test the development on volunteers. According to the company's statement, an independent investigation committee gave the green light for the first human clinical trials.

The company is primarily looking for volunteers who are paralyzed due to cervical spinal cord injury or lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Neuralink would place the brain computer interface implant (BCI) in their head, in the area of ​​the brain responsible for movement coordination, with the help of a robotic arm.

For the time being, the company's goal is to enable subjects to move a computer mouse or press keys on a connected device through the implant, that is, essentially with the help of their thoughts.

Neuralink did not say how many people would be enrolled in the clinical trials, which are expected to last six years.

The company previously reported that they would initially implant the device in ten patients, and discussed this with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Neuralink employees told the Reuters news agency that the authority previously had security concerns about the device, so it is not yet known how many of the ten people required by the company were finally approved.

It is certain that Elon Musk personally and his company have serious ambitions regarding chips.

According to their expectation, its surgical insertion would facilitate the development of, for example, severe obesity, autism, depression or schizophrenia.

By the way, Neuralink already announced in May that they had received permission to start human experiments - just when the company was placed under strict control by the American authorities due to animal experiments.

According to experts speaking to Reuters, if clinical trials prove that BCI works well in people's minds, at least a decade should pass before the company can market the chip as a commercial product, according to Origón .

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