Science & Tech

Musk's Neuralink Seeks Brain Implant Trial Volunteers Despite Animal Abuse Allegations

© Sputnik ScreenshotElon Musk reveals Neuralink's "Link" brain implant at an August 28, 2020, press conference
Elon Musk reveals Neuralink's Link brain implant at an August 28, 2020, press conference - Sputnik India, 1920, 20.09.2023
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Neuralink, a California-based neurotechnology company, is developing implantable Brain–Computer Interfaces (BCI) that aim to collect brain signals, analyse them, and translate them into commands to control an external device.
In yet another major scientific innovative development, tech billionaire Elon Musk's Neuralink company has officially opened recruitment for its first-in-human clinical trial.
The trial seeks to implant a wireless chip into the brain that aims to empower people suffering from paralysis to control bodily movements with their thoughts.
Neuralink took to Twitter and shared that they have received a go-ahead from an independent institutional review board as well as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct this first-ever human clinical trial.

"If you have quadriplegia (paralysis) due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), you may qualify," Neuralink tweeted on Tuesday.

Despite receiving the FDA’s approval to conduct human trials, the company faced scrutiny after allegations of animal abuse following reports that it killed about 1,500 animals since 2018. The same report had claimed that the number of animal deaths is too high because of Musk’s demands to speed up research.

Neuralink calls the PRIME (Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface) trial a groundbreaking investigational medical device study that will explore fully-implantable, wireless BCI.
During the PRIME trial, the surgical robot (R1) will be used to place the implant's (N1) ultra-fine and flexible threads in a portion of the brain that controls movement intention. This implant will then record and transmit brain signals wirelessly to an app that decodes movement intention, the announcement explained.
Apart from examining the safety of the implant and surgical robot, the study will assess the initial functionality of BCI that aims to enable people with paralysis to control external devices with their thoughts.
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