Neuralink is the startup of Elon Musk in neurotechnology. Elon Musk is the founder of Neuralink. He has built an implantable that will provide a brain-computing interface (BCI). It will be able to perform actions that you are thinking and this sounds mind-blowing. The company launched in 2016. A private venture said that this would let people with paraplegia regain their movement. He also said that it would restore vision to the people who were born blind.
In this aspect Ramses Alcaide (CEO of Neurable) said; “The device is designed to connect human brains directly to computers”. Built In claimed that; “The Neuralink’s technology is capable of recording and decoding neural signals and then transmitting information back to the brain using electrical stimulation.”
The Link:
The Link ( the device to be implanted)will be surgically implanted in the patient’s brain. Musk discussed in their Neuralink progress presentation in 2020; that the implant will be of the “size of a large coin” and will be quite similar to “a Fitbit in your skull with tiny wires”.
In the trial, a robot will surgically embed the chip under the skull. It will embedded where it can receive information by neural threads. And where it can spread to different parts of the brain that have motor skills. Each spreading wire has 1,024 electrodes that are sensors to record and emit electrical currents. Neuralin said these electrodes are “so fine and flexible that they can’t be inserted by the human hand”.
Neuralink in a blog post, claimed that the main reason for creating this was to let paralyzed patients control the cursor on the keyboard or computer. And this will perform it just by thinking about its movement.
You might not believe this but neuroscientists have working on developing it since 1970. While we still think that Neuralink is science fiction only. A paralyzed person even had a first bump by a robotic arm with President Obama.
The director of functional restorative neurosurgery at UCLA, Ausaf A. Bari explained briefly how effective this small chip is. He said; “The principle is that by monitoring enough brain cells, we can interpret intentions and use this data to control devices such as computers and prosthetic limbs. This technology could enable individuals with spinal cord injuries, for example, to control external devices using only their thoughts.”
Neuralink Stock:
Neuralink is not a publicly traded company as it doesn’t have any stock price or ticker symbol. The company of Neuralink has been a privately managed company since October 2023. They still have not shown of IPO (Initial Public Offering). But still, its private stock market can be accessed by Forge Data.
How Human Trial of Neuralink will be conducted?
The Prime Study (Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface) will be responsible for wisely assessing safety. And also for the functionality of the device along with the robot that will perform the surgical implant. David Putrino Ph.D., a neuroscience expert and also the director of Mount Sinai Health System also expressed his thoughts. He said; “It’s always great to hear that some good quality research is going to occur and we will watch the research with interest to see if it can be of utility to our patients.”
Precautionary measures suggested by Putrino:
A principal investigator of the National Institute of Health, Putrino funded the COMMAND trial of this project. In this project, they will assess another neurotechnology device called Synchron. Putrino also said that it is essential for them to check if any amount of major or minor adverse events might occur during the process or even after the product. They will analyze first if they can implant and remove the device easily without any kind of risk of infections or any other risks related to this.
Putrino also showed his worry that it might harm people. He assured them that this would elevate major of their worries about severe disabilities and more. He said; “I’m cautiously optimistic. I don’t want to fill people with severe disability with false hope that this is going to be a technology that’s available for them tomorrow. These trials will take years and it’s important that to perform them right and done carefully also.”
Completion of the trial:
However, according to the experts, the study of this chip will complete in six years. Putrino said that after the succession of this trial, the company of Neuralink will perform a pivotal trial in which they will analyze if the device is capable enough to enhance the life of its users and also their capability to advocate for themselves specifically.
Is Neuralink a Safe Implant or not?
In the year 2022, the FDA (known as the Food and Drug Administration) rejected the first application of Neuralink for human trials as it seemed like a risk to many lives. They cited concerns about the potential for the implant’s tiny wires to migrate to other areas of the brain according the Reuters.
But still, they received the approval for human trials in May 2023.
After the major announcement of the approval, the nonprofit health organization Physicians Committee of Responsible Medicine claimed that The company Neuralink has a well-documented track record of animal cruelty and sloppy scientific studies. This group said that they had “internal records detailing painful, deadly experiments conducted on monkeys by Neuralink” that specifically prompted the investigation by the federal agencies.
But in response, Musk claimed that; “No monkey has died as a result of a Neuralink implant.” He also added to this “First our early implants, to minimize risk to healthy monkeys, we chose terminal monkeys (already close to death already).”
Despite this, an immersive risk of this implant is an infection in the brain, said an expert Professor of medicine and head of neuroscience at Central Florida University, Kiminobu Sugaya, Ph.D. He said; “This device sits on the surface of the brain, but still, it may cause some inflammation, immune response, although that could be minimal.”
