By Patrick Jackson & Tom GerkenBBC News30 January 2024, 01:58 GMTUpdated 17 minutes agoImage source, Getty ImagesIn a recent announcement, tech mogul Elon Musk revealed that Neuralink, his company, has effectively placed one of its wireless brain chips in a human subject. Musk shared on X, formerly Twitter, that they have observed “promising” brain activity following the procedure, and the patient is currently “recovering well”. Neuralink’s primary objective is to establish connections between human brains and computers to aid in addressing complex neurological conditions. Some competing companies have previously implanted similar devices. According to Professor Anne Vanhoestenberghe of King’s College London, the milestone of the first human test is significant for any company producing medical devices. She noted that while there are numerous companies developing exciting products in the brain chip implant community, only a few have actually implanted their devices in humans, making Neuralink part of a relatively small group. However, she also emphasized the need for caution in evaluating the true success of such procedures over the long term. She pointed out Elon Musk’s skill in garnering attention for his company, highlighting the importance of independent verification and the necessity for Neuralink to provide further details about the claimed procedure. BBC News has reached out to both Neuralink and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for comments. Neuralink has been under scrutiny in the past, with reports in December 2022 by Reuters indicating that the company’s testing had resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,500 animals, including sheep, monkeys, and pigs. In July 2023, the head of the US Department of Agriculture stated that no violations of animal research regulations were found at the firm. Nevertheless, a separate investigation by the agency is ongoing. Neuralink has commenced a six-year study involving the use of a robot to surgically place 64 flexible threads, thinner than a human hair, onto a section of the brain controlling “movement intention”. The threads enable the experimental implant, powered by a wirelessly rechargeable battery, to record and transmit brain signals wirelessly to an app that decodes intended movement. According to Professor Tara Spires-Jones, president of the British Neuroscience Association, this technology holds significant potential to assist individuals with neurological disorders in the future. However, she noted that these interfaces typically require invasive neurosurgery and are still in experimental stages, indicating that it will likely be many years before they become widely accessible. Elon Musk suggested that telepathy would facilitate the “control of your phone or computer, and through them almost any device, just by thinking”, with initial users being those who have lost the use of their limbs. Although Musk’s involvement has drawn attention to Neuralink, some of his competitors have a history dating back two decades. For instance, Utah-based Blackrock Neurotech implanted its first brain-computer interface in 2004. Another company, Precision Neuroscience, established by a co-founder of Neuralink, also aims to aid individuals with paralysis by using a brain implant that resembles a very thin piece of tape placed on the brain’s surface and implanted via a “cranial micro-slit”, a relatively simpler procedure. Previous devices have demonstrated positive outcomes. In two recent separate US scientific studies, implants were utilized to monitor brain activity during attempts to speak, the decoding of which could aid in communication.
