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Musk's Neuralink Seeks Participants for Brain Implant Study

Elon Musk's brain-chip startup, Neuralink, plans to recruit three patients in a study to assess its brain implant device. The study's goal is to enable paralysed individuals to utilise digital devices solely through thought. To increase public trust, the US FDA encourages companies to provide information about their studies.

The multi-year project aims to enable paraplegic individuals to use digital devices solely through their thoughts. This invention has the potential to transform the lives of those with spinal cord injury.


According to Reuters, Neuralink aimed to register ten individuals in its clinical trials last year. However, the corporation has reduced its registration objective to three people. Prior to the release of trial results, Neuralink drew criticism from brain implant researchers and former regulatory officials for failing to share study findings, which is normal procedure in the business.


The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which approved the clinical trial, normally encourages firms to disseminate details about such trials in order to build public trust and recognise the patients who take part. However, the FDA declined to comment on Neuralink, and the company's officials have yet to reply to requests for comment.


The predicted completion date for Neuralink's study is 2026, with the entire study expected to be completed in 2031. The trial will include people aged 22 to 75 who suffer from illnesses such as quadriplegia. Patients must have restricted mobility that has not improved in at least one year and a life expectancy of 12 months or more to be eligible.


To be eligible for the study, patients must have very limited or no hand, wrist, and arm movement due to spinal cord injuries or a neurological disorder known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The "first-in-human early feasibility study" commenced in January, according to details posted on the registry.


Neuralink has received numerous queries from potential patients for years, even before getting approval to perform trials. The business has been working feverishly to create a brain-computer interface (BCI) implant that can be surgically implanted in the area of the brain that controls movement intentions. The device has already been successfully implanted in the brain of its first patient, Noland Arbaugh, who was paralysed from the shoulders down due to a diving accident in 2016.


Arbaugh's experience with the Neuralink device has been nothing short of astounding. He can now play video games, access the internet, and control a computer cursor on his laptop with just his thoughts. This extraordinary invention has the potential to change the lives of many people with paralysis.

 

Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain-chip company, aims to enroll three patients in a study to evaluate its brain implant device.

The study aims to give paralysed patients the ability to use digital devices through thought alone.

The U.S. FDA encourages companies to publish information about their studies to enhance public trust.


Source: REUTERS

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