The Food and Drug Administration has given its approval to Elon Musk's Neuralink's plans for human trials, so we might soon see how people will make use of the brain-computer interface device that will be surgically implanted.
Neuralink Set for Human Trials
It may be a huge step for Neuralink to finally be approved for human trials as they have been rejected before. Previous attempts were impeded by the FDA's claims that there were "dozens of issues" that the company will have to fix first.
It looks like they have already resolved the said issues, which include the company being accused of animal abuse with its monkey test subjects, as well as the transport of devices that have already been contaminated, as mentioned in Engadget.
In case you haven't heard, Elon Musk actually claimed that human trials will be due in six months back in November 2022, which means that the tech billionaire is actually right about a time estimate this time around as it gets the long-awaited FDA go signal.
We are excited to share that we have received the FDA’s approval to launch our first-in-human clinical study!
— Neuralink (@neuralink) May 25, 2023
This is the result of incredible work by the Neuralink team in close collaboration with the FDA and represents an important first step that will one day allow our…
There are a lot of brave enough individuals who are willing to go under the knife and have a relatively new device implanted in their brain, and if you're one of them, you're going to have to wait as recruitment is not yet open for human trials.
Although, it's most likely that the company will recruit people with disabilities to test out the computer. After all, Neuralink's goal is to restore autonomy for people who have lost their physical abilities to a medical condition or have been born with impediments.
Theoretically, a quadriplegic person will be able to control their computers and smartphones using their thoughts through the implant. Neuralink even has ambitious plans to use the implant to restore vision, speech, and motor functions.
In due time, robotic limb prostheses can also be programmed to respond to the thoughts of the person with the implant, which is likely their plan when it comes to restoring motor functions. This allows disabled individuals to be able to walk or perform mundane actions again.
The Brain Implant
It might be daunting to think that someone will surgically place a foreign object in your brain, so maybe learning about its components will make you fear it less. The brain-computer implant is actually made up of five layers.
The first layer is the Biocompatible Enclosure, which seals the N1 implant and allows it to withstand physiological conditions more times than those in the human body. Below the N1 implant is the battery that will power the device.
It makes you wonder how you will charge or replace a battery that's inside your head, but the small battery is actually charged wirelessly from the outside through a compact and inductive charger. That means you won't have to get surgery every time the battery runs out.
Below the battery are the chips and electronics that process your thoughts or neural signals. It's responsible for transmitting data to the Neuralink application. Your neural activity is recorded by the threads, which are ultra-thin and flexible to minimize damage in implantation.
