Elon Musk’s brain implant startup, Neuralink is gearing up for its first clinical trial. According to a Bloomberg report written by one of Elon Musk’s Biographers, Ashlee Vance the company is on the hunt for a volunteer willing to undergo a procedure that involves removing a portion of their skull to insert a series of electrodes and superthin wires into their brain. Surprisingly, despite being an absolutely new medical procedure, involving the intricacies of the brain, thousands are lining up to get the implant, according to Vance.
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How will the surgery happen?
The implant, designed to replace the removed skull piece, will read and analyse the person’s brain activity and wirelessly relay this information to a nearby laptop or tablet. The ideal candidate for this trial would be an adult under 40 years of age with paralysis in all four limbs.
Benefits of the Implant
Neuralink’s ambitions are nothing short of revolutionary. The company aims to convert a person’s thoughts into a range of commands that a computer can understand, essentially creating human-machine hybrids.
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These hybrids would have the ability to download knowledge or upload their thoughts into storage, and potentially even to other brains.
Despite these lofty goals, the road to realisation is not without its challenges. While there has been an outpouring of interest from thousands of prospective patients, Neuralink is still in search of its first volunteer. The company has set ambitious targets, aiming to operate 11 people next year and over 22,000 by 2030, according to Vance.
Neuralink is not alone in this race. Other companies, such as Synchron and Onward, have more than a year’s head start on human trials with brain implants and related technology.
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While this technology holds great promise, it also requires perfection and rigorous testing, given the high stakes involved in brain surgery. As thousands line up to get the Neuralink chip, the world watches with bated breath to see how this revolutionary technology will shape the future of human-machine interaction.
