Neuralink says it has permission to conduct its first human trials
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Brain-computer interface The Neuralink company announced on May 25 that it had received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a clinical study in humans.
Neuralink did the announcement on Twitter“We are thrilled to share that we have received FDA approval to initiate our first-in-human clinical study.” The tweet said the approval “represents an important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many people.”
The company also said recruiting was not yet open for the trial, and it had not yet released any additional details about what the trial would entail.
What is Neuralink?
Neuralink was formed in 2016 by Elon Musk and a group of scientists and engineers whose ultimate goal is to make devices that interface with the human brain – both by reading information from neurons and sending it back directly to the brain. So far, the venture has had mixed success.
In 2020, Musk showed off Neuralink’s prototype brain-computer interface publicly for the first time. The prototype was shaped like a coin with wires attached to one side. The circular part sinks into the skull and the wires rest a few millimeters from the surface of the brain.
As part of the announcement, the Neuralink team showed a pig that had the device implanted in it to monitor neurons in its snout, producing signals when the animal touched its snout with food or the ground, and another in which the device had been implanted and then safely removed. . A year later, the company then showed how a monkey could play the classic video game pong using his device. The company has come under fire after some monkeys died in tests and reports have come out that others have been treated badly.
Similar devices for detecting and processing brain signals have been used by research labs to help paralyzed people to walk againdevelop a mind controlled wheelchair And allow people with confinement syndrome to communicate.
Neuralink did not immediately respond to new scientistrequest for comment.
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