In the US, Neuralink, founded by Elon Musk, has already successfully experimented with implanting an implant into the brains of two patients, and this week it announced that it had received approval from Canadian health authorities. The head of the company said that the search for candidates for testing the brain implant has begun.
Image source: Neuralink
According to Bloomberg, the right to conduct the first clinical trials of the Neuralink brain implant in Canada fell to the University Health Network complex in Toronto. However, the parties do not specify when exactly such an experiment will be carried out in Canada. Volunteers for the trial will be recruited from patients who have lost mobility in four limbs as a result of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Charcot’s disease, or Lou Gehrig’s disease in English-speaking countries. Patients who have lost mobility in four limbs as a result of a spinal cord injury may also be eligible to participate in clinical trials.
It is noteworthy that Neuralink has been recruiting volunteers for several months to implant its chip into the brain in the UK, but the appropriate conditions for conducting clinical trials have not yet been created. Neuralink implants in their current form allow paralyzed patients to control a computer cursor, and in the future, bionic prostheses, their own limbs or an exoskeleton. Musk also hopes to create devices that will restore people’s vision, as well as increase the “memory capacity” available to healthy people. Neuralink successfully conducted its first experiments on volunteers in the United States this year. The first recipient of a brain implant from this brand, Noland Arbaugh, constantly tells others about how his quality of life has changed after becoming able to control the mouse cursor using the implant installed in the cranium.