Neuralink’s first volunteer was able to control a computer mouse with his thoughts after implanting a brain chip.
According to TechSpot, billionaire Elon Musk announced that the implantation of the Neuralink chip into the brain was successful, and he even announced that the patient had completely recovered and could control the computer mouse with just his thoughts.
“The process is going very well and the patient seems to have fully recovered, and there are no side effects,” Mr. Musk said in a conversation with Katherine Brodsky at the Spaces event on social network X. “Patients can move the mouse cursor around the screen just by thinking,” he said
Neuralink’s founder says the company is trying to get patients to do as many mouse clicks as possible.
In May last year, Neuralink was regulated by the Department of Food and Pharmaceuticals The United States (FDA) granted permission to begin clinical research on humans, paving the way for brain-computer chips capable of treating dangerous neurological diseases, paralysis, and blindness. The company began accepting applications. Signed up for the first human clinical trial in September.
At the end of January 2024, Musk announced on the X platform that Neuralink’s first patient was recovering well after implant surgery and the nerve signal reception results were stable
the first product Mr. Musk said Neuralink, called Telepathy, will allow users to control their phone or computer, thereby controlling nearly any other device with just their thoughts. The first users will be patients who have lost the use of their limbs, such as those with quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injuries or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Neuralink’s brain-computer chip (BCI) is placed in the part of the brain responsible for movement intention. The company said the N1 chip records neural activity through 1,024 electrodes distributed on 64 ultra-thin and highly flexible wires.
Currently, there are also several other brain-computer chip companies competing with Neuralink. Most of these focus on product development for medical use only, but Musk has claimed that his Neuralink technology could even allow users to stream music directly to the brain or record things happening and replay whenever they want