This was stated by Musk at the company’s presentation on Wednesday, Ukrinform reported, citing Reuters.
As noted, the company is developing brain-chip interfaces that allow disabled patients to move and communicate again. On Wednesday, Musk said the chips will also help people see.
Headquartered in San Francisco and Austin, Texas, Neuralink has been running animal testing in recent years to gain approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin human clinical trials.
“We want to be extremely careful before putting the device on a person and make sure it’s working well… At first, progress may seem excruciatingly slow, especially in humans, but we’re doing everything in parallel to scale it up. … So in theory, progress should be exponential, ” said Musk.
According to him, the first two applications of the Neuralink device for humans will be to restore vision and enable muscle movement in people who cannot.
Neuralink is an American company engaged in the development of brain implants that will become an interface for interaction between the human brain and an electronic device. The company, which was created with the participation of Elon Musk, started its activities in 2016, but was offered to the public in March 2017.
Neuralink’s future products are designed to reverse the effects of certain brain diseases, improve memory, treat stroke, blindness, depression, Parkinson’s disease and complex systems etc. There must be neural chips integrated into the human brain to control it more optimally. The ability to mentally play video games, summon Tesla cars or download and play memories is recommended.
In 2019, rat-chip experiments were conducted – in 87% of cases the device was successfully implanted. And in August 2020, Musk made an official presentation of the project that showed the world a sculpted pig named Gertrude. However, Neuralink faced safety concerns last year after several of its monkeys were euthanized, including suspected device-related infections.
In July, another American company, Synchron, surpassed Neuralink in the market. Then doctors at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York successfully implanted the company’s one-and-a-half inch device into a person living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Source: Ukrinform
I’m Maurice Knox, a professional news writer with a focus on science. I work for Div Bracket. My articles cover everything from the latest scientific breakthroughs to advances in technology and medicine. I have a passion for understanding the world around us and helping people stay informed about important developments in science and beyond.