After carrying out initial tests on monkeys and pigs, Neuralink wants to take the final step: perform the implantation of chips in the human brain. Implants which, according to Musk, could for example allow paralyzed people to walk. The Neuralink founder clarified that this step will be taken in the course of 2022.
The first human trials for 2022?
With Neuralink, Elon Musk promises that implanting chips in a human brain will allow the wearer “to use a smartphone with your mind faster than with your thumbs”. Last year, Musk and his teams already succeeded in implanting a chip in the brain of a monkey named Pager. Thanks to this implant, the monkey was able to play the game of Pong using only his mind. A few weeks later, a paralyzed man even challenged Pager to the game of Pong.
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A few months earlier, Neuralink had also tested its brain-machine interface (BMI) on sows. In 2020, Gertrude, a young sow who was the subject of this experiment, was implanted with The Link, Neuralink’s first brain-machine interface. As part of this first experiment, the brain-machine interface was directly connected to its muzzle. As soon as Gertrude’s snout touched objects, scientists could observe a set of dots that indicated how her neurons were working.
Neuralink is recruiting a Director of Clinical Trials
Today, Elon Musk is officially looking for a director of human clinical trials. In the announcement posted, it reads: “You will work closely with some of the most innovative doctors and top engineers, as well as early participants in Neuralink clinical trials”. Neuralink is therefore looking for a shoe size to take up great challenges. Musk said again last month that he was convinced that Neuralink implants could allow people with quadriplegia to walk.
The founder of Neuralink specifies that he is awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to launch his first human trials. If the advice is positive, people with serious spinal cord injuries such as tetraplegics, quadriplegics, will be able to benefit from implants designed by the Californian company. You have to be careful with Musk. The richest man in the world is notorious for over-promising. He had already promised the implantation of chips in a human skull for 2020.