Neuralink, the biotech company founded by Elon Musk, claims to have received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to begin its first human clinical study and test brain implants in which the company has been working for years.
In December, Musk confirmed that Neurialink would be ready to begin implementing the first brain implants in six months. Implants that, in particular, will allow recording human brain activity to be able to transmit orders that help restore some brain functionssuch as speech or hand, leg and arm movements.
Neuralink opened a few months ago a record so that people with motor difficulties, vision problems, or deafness, could sign up for the first trials. So far, however, the FDA has been reluctant to approve the application for the human clinical study. Principally for your concern about possible technical problems with the implant. Among them, a possible overheating or the leakage of chemical elements from the implant to the brain tissue, as Musk himself detailed at the company’s last annual conference.
The permission granted by the FDA, therefore, marks a new stage for the company, which until now he had tested brain implants on animals. “This is the result of incredible work done by the Neuralink team in close collaboration with the FDA and represents an important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many people,” the company said in a tweet.
Neuralink still has a lot of work to do
The Food and Drug Administration of the United States, for the moment, has not ruled on the matter, so it is not clear what changes the company has made of Elon Musk for the body to approve the new request.
The company also could still face challenges in brain implant developmentl, as component consumption. Neuralink wants this to last for 24 hours. Its battery, however, must be considerably smaller than that of any smartphone, and also have a much lower voltage.
The brain chip too will be upgradable through a mechanism that will be placed on the headboard of the bed or in some other strategic place, as Musk stated. It is something that could also cause problems in its development.
Neuralink, on the other hand, claims that recruitment for the first clinical trial is not yet open. Remember that, according to the registry, it is intended for people with motor difficulties, such as quadriplegia or paraplegia, people with vision loss, aphasia or deafness.