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Elon Musk’s neurotech startup Neuralink implanted its device in a human for the primary time on Sunday, and the patient is “recovering well,” the billionaire said in a post on X, formerly often called Twitter, on Monday.
The corporate is developing a brain implant that goals to assist patients with severe paralysis control external technologies using only neural signals. Neuralink began recruiting patients for its first in-human clinical trial in the autumn after it received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to conduct the study back in May, in response to a blog post.
Musk said Monday that Neuralink’s first product is named Telepathy, in response to an X post.
If the technology functions properly, patients with severe degenerative diseases like ALS could someday use the implant to speak or access social media by moving cursors and typing with their minds.
“Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer,” Musk wrote. “That’s the goal.”
The in-human clinical trial marks only one step on Neuralink’s path toward commercialization. Medical device corporations must undergo several rounds of intense data safety collection and testing before securing final approval from the FDA.
Neuralink didn’t disclose what number of human patients will take part in its initial in-human trial. The corporate didn’t immediately reply to CNBC’s request for comment in regards to the recent procedure.
As a part of the emerging brain-computer interface, or BCI, industry, Neuralink is probably the best-known company within the space due to the high profile of Musk, who can also be the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. A BCI is a system that deciphers brain signals and translates them into commands for external technologies, and several other corporations like Synchron, Precision Neuroscience, Paradromics and Blackrock Neurotech have also created systems with these capabilities.
Paradromics is aiming to launch its first trial with human patients in the primary half of this 12 months. Precision Neuroscience carried out its first in-human clinical study last 12 months. A patient who received Synchron’s BCI used it to post from CEO Tom Oxley’s Twitter account back in 2021.
It just isn’t clear which company might be the primary to succeed in the market.