Elon Musk’s Brain Implant Company Neuralink Announces FDA Approves Human Trials
Neuralink announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the initiation of its first human clinical study.
“We are pleased to share that we have received FDA approval to initiate a first-in-human clinical study!” Neuralink’s official Twitter account wrote Thursday. “This is the result of a great job by the Neuralink team working closely with the FDA and represents an important first step that will one day enable our technology to help many people.”
Related item: Elon Musk’s Neuralink reportedly under investigation for animal welfare violations
The neurotechnology company has not yet recruited subjects and has not released any information on exactly what the clinical trials will look like.Still, fans of Neuralink founder Elon Musk are already chomp and of a bit To implant questionable experimental techniques in their gray matter.
Neuralink aims to develop implantable devices that not only restore vision and motor skills to people with disabilities, but also allow their brains to control computers. But as exciting as this may sound to people with disabilities, Neuralink’s brain chip has serious concerns.
The FDA reportedly rejected Neuralink’s application to initiate human trials last year, saying “there are dozens of issues the company has to deal with.” Among them are that the wires could slip and damage the brain, that the brain could be damaged when removing the device, and that there could be a potential problem with the lithium battery. There were concerns such as
Neuralink is also currently under investigation for animal welfare violations, with reports of failed experiments that have resulted in unnecessary suffering and death. This allegedly includes instances where the surgeon used the wrong surgical instrument, implanted the Neuralink device in the wrong position, or implanted the wrong size device.
Mashable has reached out to the FDA for comment.
For years, Mr. Musk has argued that Neuralink will soon begin human testing. If this latest announcement is true, it might actually happen this time.
