At the VivaTech Event held in Paris, France, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed that his brain-computer connection technology company Neuralink will conduct the first human trial this year.
Elon revealed that Neuralink’s first human trial will implant the chip in a quadriplegic or amputated patient, but did not disclose how many patients will be tested and how long the trial will last.
Recently, Neuralink was approved by the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for its trial for human brain implants, emphasizing that this is an important advancement in brain-computer connection technology.
In the past, the technology had been tested on piglets, monkeys, and other animals. Although Neuralink boasted that it successfully connected brain waves in piglets, experiments on monkeys resulted in the death of many subjects.
Market believes that even if Neuralink can prove that it’s quite safe to implant the device into the human body, it will still take over 10 years, to get a commercial license. There are still concerns that brain devices may have adverse effects on the human body.
Notably, Neuralink is not the first company to be approved for brain-computer interface implantation. In 2021, Synchron got approval and conducted trials locally in the US. In January, Synchron announced the results of an early study of four human patients in Australia.
