In late January, Elon Musk announced that Neuralink's wireless brain implant had been implanted in a human for the first time. And now, “Telepathy”, as it is called, appears to have been successful in the first tests.
As announced by Musk, the first human patient with the futuristic chip was able to move a computer cursor with just his thoughts.
Chip is intended for patients who have lost mobility
NEWS: Elon Musk announced tonight that the first human implanted with @Neuralink’s brain chip has made a full recovery.The patient is able to control a mouse using only their thoughts. Incredible achievement!pic.twitter.com/ImrSkxT0h7
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) February 20, 2024
Information about this first major step in testing Neuralink on humans was shared on the social network X by Sawyer Merritt, businessman and investor in Tesla, a company also led by Elon Musk.
In the video shared by Merrit, Neuralink explains how its chip works:
The joy of connecting with your loved ones, searching the internet or even playing games using just your thoughts. This is possible by placing a small, invisible implant in the part of your brain that plans movements.
The device is designed to interpret your neural activity so you can operate a computer or smartphone with just your thoughts. No wires or physical movement is required.
For the tests, Neuralink's N1 chip was implanted directly into the patient's brain using small wires thinner than a human hair. In total, 1024 electrodes present in these wires are capable of simultaneously capturing signals and stimulating millions of neurons.
The chip then transmits these signals to the body without requiring a physical connection for processing and interpretation, which allows the patient to perform movement.
Image: Disclosure / Neuralink
When he announced the start of testing on January 28, Musk reported that the first patient was recovering well and that “initial results show promising detection of neuron spikes.”
According to the CEO, the main focus of the innovative chip is patients who have lost limbs or body movement for some reason, such as quadriplegic people and people with other disabilities.
The start of human testing already represented a big step for the company. A successful test with a patient being able to move a computer mouse is certainly a unique achievement for Neuralink.
There is still no forecast for the Neuralink chip to be made available to healthcare institutions and treatments. The expectation is that the innovation will still go through several other stages of testing.