Musk’s brain chip startup Neuralink seeks to enroll 3 patients in study

Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain chip company, intends to enroll three participants to evaluate its implant in a study that could last more than five years.

Neuralink is looking for three paralyzed patients to test the safety and functionality of the devices in people with spinal cord injuries. according to details published with the National Institutes of Health Clinical Trials Database.

The implant is being tested in the region of the brain responsible for motor function and aims to transmit brain signals to a smartphone application that will decode the intention of the movement. The company is eventually trying to allow people with paralysis to use a keyboard or control a computer with just their thoughts.

The study is estimated to have its primary conclusion in January 2026, although the full study is not expected to be completed until January 2031, according to the clinical trials database.

Those eligible for the study include individuals aged 22 to 75 years with severe quadriplegia, without improvement for at least one year, with a life expectancy greater than or equal to 12 months. Patients must also have “very limited or no” movement of the hands, arms or wrists due to a spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neurological disorder.

The first Neuralink implant was placed in a human in January, but it malfunctioned weeks after surgery when several wires recording neural activity retracted from the brain.

The malfunction reduced the number of effective electrodes and the ability of quadriplegic patient Noland Arbaugh, 29, to control a computer cursor with his brain.

Neuralink said it saw “rapid and sustained improvement” after making modifications and told the Food and Drug Administration it believes it has a solution to the problem, according toWall Street Journal.

Despite the problem, the company praised Arbaugh’s ability to play online computer games, browse the Internet, live stream and use other applications “all by controlling a cursor with his mind.”

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