Elon musk says Neuralink in the process of asking authorities to allow them to test the device linking brains to computers, but timeline is far from certain.
Elon Musk announced his company Neuralink is seeking approval from government to soon test its brain implant on humans in 6 months.
In a show-and-tell presentation broadcast live on Wednesday night, Musk said his team is in the process of asking US regulators to allow them to test the device. He said he thinks the company should be able to put the implant into a human brain as part of a clinical trial in about six months, though that timeline is far from certain.
Musk’s Neuralink is one of many groups working to connect brains to computers, an effort aimed at helping treat brain disorders, overcome brain injuries and other applications.
The field dates back to the 1960s, said Rajesh Rao, co-director of the Center for Neurotechnology at the University of Washington. “But it really took off in the 1990s. And we’ve seen a lot of progress recently, especially in the area of communication brain computer interfaces.”
Rao, who watched Musk’s presentation online, said he doesn’t think Neuralink is ahead of the curve when it comes to breakthroughs in brain-computer interfaces. “But … they are quite ahead in terms of the actual hardware in the devices,” he said.
The Neuralink device is about the size of a large coin and is designed to be implanted in the skull, with ultra-thin wires leading directly to the brain. Musk said the first two human applications would restore vision and help people with little or no muscle control quickly use digital devices.
He said he also envisions that in someone with a broken neck, signals from the brain could be bridged to a Neuralink device in the spinal cord.
“We believe there are no physical limitations to the functionality of the whole body,” said Musk, who recently took over Twitter and is CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.
In experiments by other teams, implanted sensors have allowed paralyzed people to use brain signals to control computers and move robotic arms. In a 2018 study in the journal PLOS ONE, three participants with paralysis below the neck affecting all their limbs used an experimental brain-computer interface tested by the BrainGate consortium. The interface records neural activity from a small sensor in the brain to navigate things like email and apps.
A recent study in the journal Nature by scientists at the Swiss research center NeuroRestore identified a type of neuron activated by electrical stimulation of the spinal cord, which allowed nine patients with chronic spinal cord injury to walk again.
Scientists have also worked on brain-machine interfaces to restore sight. Rao said some companies have developed retinal implants, but Musk’s announcement suggests his team will use signals directly targeting the brain’s visual cortex, an approach some academic groups are also pushing, “with limited success.”
Neuralink spokespeople did not immediately respond to an email to the press department. Dr. Jaimie Henderson, a professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University who is a consultant for Neuralink, said one way Neuralink differs from some other devices is that it has the ability to penetrate deeper layers of the brain. But he added: “There are a lot of different systems that have a lot of different benefits.”