FDA approves second human trial of Neuralink

Earlier this month, Neuralink reported that small wires implanted in the brain of its first patient had shifted from their position. Reuters reported last week, citing sources, that the company knew from animal testing that the cables could retract.

The company plans to fix the problem by inserting some of the device’s wires deeper into the brain, according to the WSJ report, which cites a person familiar with the company and a document the outlet had seen. Neuralink hopes to implant its device in the second patient in June and in a total of 10 people this year. The report adds that more than 1,000 quadriplegics have enrolled in its patient registry.

This is not the first time that Elon Musk’s company has obtained this approval. In 2021, Neuralink announced that it had received FDA approval to begin human trials, a crucial step in moving toward clinical use of its devices. These tests are designed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of your implants in people with severe disabilities, such as paralysis.

Since its founding, Neuralink has focused on creating devices that can be implanted in the human brain to record and stimulate neural activity. The company’s long-term goal is to eventually treat a wide range of neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injuries and depression.

In 2019, Neuralink revealed its first major advances, which included a device with thousands of electrodes that could be implanted in the brain to monitor neural activity at an unprecedented level of detail. They also presented a surgical robot capable of inserting these electrodes with extreme precision.

While in 2020 the company showed a pig named Gertrude that had one of its devices implanted. This event demonstrated that Neuralink technology could record the neural signals of a live animal in real time.