It’s been three years since Neuralink first announced its brain-implantable chip. Throughout this process, while the company remained at the center of various controversies, it continued to carry out its experiments and announced that it received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last May.
Just a few months after the approval announcements, Neuralink announced that it was opening applications for human experiments with an announcement shared on its website. In the statement, the details of the study and the criteria for applicants were also mentioned.
Although the start of human experiments is exciting, the technologies that Neuralink will test are not new at all.
In the human experiments it will carry out for its project called Neuralink PRIME, it will simply do the following;
- An implant will be placed in the human brain.
- The placement process will be done with a surgical robot.
- After the implant is placed, it will be observed whether cursor and keyboard controls can be made via the interface.
Within the scope of the study, the implant (N1), surgical robot (R1) and brain-computer interface (BCI) system software (N1 User App) developed by Neuralink will be tested. The studies are planned to continue on subjects for 6 years.
*N1 User App
However, such studies, that is, studies on enabling paralyzed people to control computers or different devices with a brain-computer interface, have already been carried out for a while. In other words, Neuralink, or rather Elon Musk, is still a long way from the ‘super brain computer’ project he has dreamed of.
*R1 surgical robot
Musk says that thanks to this work, one day people will be able to do everything from telepathy to interaction with artificial intelligence with chips installed in their brains. However, it seems that they are still at the beginning of the journey…
What does it take to be one of Neuralink’s first human subjects?
Those who want to volunteer for the PRIME study must be over 22 years old, have paralysis in both arms or legs due to cervical spine injury, or have Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). At the same time, these people need to have a “consistent and reliable” caregiver.
People applying for the trial must not require an MRI for active treatment, must not have any other implants, must not have a history of seizures, and must not be receiving magnetic stimulation therapy. Applications of people who do not meet these conditions are not accepted.
Applications are made via the link here.
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