Would YOU sign up? Elon Musk’s Neuralink is recruiting participants to trial its controversial brain implants

• Neuralink says microchips could treat conditions such as paralysis and blindness
• It’s now seeking people with paralysis to test its device as part of a six-year study

Elon Musk’s brain-chip firm will soon begin testing its controversial implants on people after receiving approval to recruit patients for the first human trials. 

Neuralink wants to treat conditions such as paralysis and blindness by linking brains to computers with the help of microchips.

However, its implants – which have been tested in monkeys – have sparked ethical concerns and drawn skepticism among neuroscientists and other experts.

Despite this, the company said its chips had received approval from an independent review board, which is a last rubber stamp toward ensuring a trial can go ahead. 

Neuralink is now seeking people with paralysis to test its experimental device as part of a six-year study.

Ready to go: Elon Musk ‘s brain-chip firm will soon begin testing its controversial implants (pictured) on people after receiving approval to recruit patients for the first human trials

How it works: The chips are designed to interpret signals produced in the brain and relay information to devices via Bluetooth, with the aim being to enable a participant to control a computer cursor or a keyboard using just their thoughts

NEURALINK: ELON MUSK’S PLAY FOR COMPUTER-BRAIN INTERFACES

Elon Musk’s Neuralink is working to link the human brain with a machine interface by creating micron-sized devices.

Neuralink was registered in California as a ‘medical research’ company in July 2016, and Musk has funded the company mostly by himself.

It is working on what Musk calls the ‘neural lace’ technology, implanting tiny brain electrodes that may one day upload and download thoughts. 

The technology is initially planned to be used to help people suffering from severe degenerative brain disorders such as ALS, but it could have wider uses in years to come.

Those with paralysis due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis may qualify for the study, the firm said, but it did not reveal how many participants would be enrolled in the trial. 

It is also unclear if people will be paid to take part. 

The study will use a robot to surgically place a brain-computer interface (BCI) implant in a region of the brain that controls movement, Neuralink added. 

The chips are designed to interpret signals produced in the brain and relay information to devices via Bluetooth, with the aim being to enable a participant to control a computer cursor or a keyboard using just their thoughts. 

This has already been achieved by other BCIs, most famously in 2012 when a woman with quadriplegia ate chocolate using a robot arm while fitted with an implant.

Both the safety and functionality of the technology will be evaluated as part of the research, according to Musk’s startup.  

Safety concerns meant the firm had struggled to gain earlier approvals, particularly with the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). 

Major issues involved the lithium battery of the device, the possibility of the implant’s wires migrating within the brain and the challenge of safely extracting the device without damaging brain tissue. 

The FDA later granted its approval in May but did not disclose how its initial concerns were resolved. 

Billionaire Musk has grand ambitions for Neuralink, which is one of several firms developing a BCI that can collect and analyse brain signals.

He said the company would facilitate speedy surgical insertions of its chip devices to treat conditions such as obesity, autism, depression and schizophrenia.

It could also allow for web browsing and telepathy. 

Goal: Neuralink wants to treat conditions such as paralysis and blindness by linking brains to computers with the help of microchips

Where it will go: The study will use a robot to surgically place a brain-computer interface (BCI) implant in a region of the brain that controls movement, Neuralink added. Pictured is a scan showing the implant in an animal’s brain

However, even if the BCI device proves to be safe for human use, it would still potentially take more than a decade for Neuralink to secure clearance to commercialise it, experts have cautioned.

They say the brain implants will require extensive testing to overcome technical and ethical challenges if they are to become widely available.

Musk’s company – which was only founded in 2016 – has repeatedly overestimated the speed at which it deliver on its promises.

Initially Neuralink wanted to start inserting chips into humans in 2020, before putting this back to 2022.

Now it seems more likely that it won’t happen until 2024.

NEURALINK ‘BOTCHED EXPERIMENTS’ WITH MONKEYS – FORMER EMPLOYEE SAYS

‘Botched experiments’ by Elon Musk’s Neuralink allegedly ‘kept suffering animals alive for no reason and malpractice caused monkey’s brains to hemorrhage’ during rushed brain chip testing, a former Neuralink employee and internal lab notes have previously revealed.

The billionaire’s startup is accused of violating the Animal Welfare Act with its experiments at the University of California, Davis, from 2017 through 2020, which ‘sacrificed all the animals involved,’ a former Neuralink employee, who asked to remain anonymous, told DailyMail.com.

One case stood out to them – a monkey sacrificed ahead of schedule due to errors allegedly made during surgery. 

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine filed a lawsuit against the University of California, Davis, where the experiments were held, claiming it has to hand over video footage and photographs of the experiments under California’s Public Records Act. Pictured is an image of a monkey shown on Neuralink’s website

DailyMail.com previously obtained Neuralink lab notes that detail how a sealant was placed on the surgical holes, causing the monkey’s brain to swell and hemorrhage.

‘There was no reason to use it,’ the former employee, who worked as a necropsy technician, told DailyMail.com.

This incident is among a laundry list of cases brought to light in recent months by former staff, which has led the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to open a federal investigation into Nueralink for animal-welfare violations.

Read more here. 

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