According to billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, human trials for a wireless device produced by his brain chip company Neuralink are anticipated to start in six months. Neuralink is working on brain chip interfaces that, according to the company, will help people with disabilities move and communicate. Neuralink has been testing its products on animals while requesting authorization for clinical trials in humans,
“We want to be extremely careful and certain that it will work well before putting a device into a human but we’ve submitted I think most of our paperwork to the FDA and probably in about six months we should be able to upload Neuralink in a human,” Musk said during a much-awaited public update on the device.
Musk is known for lofty goals such as colonizing Mars and saving humanity
This event was initially scheduled for October 31 but was abruptly postponed by Elon Musk two days earlier. Moreover, a year ago, Neuralink showed off a monkey with a brain chip that could play a computer game by simply thinking about it.
Musk is renowned for his ambitious plans to save humanity and colonize Mars. The same lofty goals are held for Neuralink, which he founded in 2016. He intends to create a chip that would enable the brain to control intricate electronic equipment, eventually restoring motor function to paralyzed persons and treating disorders of the brain including Parkinson’s, dementia, and Alzheimer’s. He also discusses combining artificial intelligence with the brain.
Neuralink has frequently missed internal deadlines to obtain US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval
Neuralink, however, is running behind schedule. In 2019, Musk said that he was aiming to receive regulatory approval by 2020 end. Later, he said in 2021 that he desired to start human trials during the year.
According to allegations quoting current and former workers, Neuralink has frequently missed internal deadlines to obtain US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to begin human testing. According to Reuters, Musk approached rival Synchron early this year about a prospective investment after complaining to Neuralink staff members about their sluggish development.
By successfully implanting its device in a patient in the United States for the first time in July, Synchron achieved a significant milestone. In 2021, it received regulatory approval from the US for human trials, and studies on four Australians have been completed.