Elon Musk’s brain chip company is ready to crack open some Canadian skulls (in a good way).
What happened: Neuralink received regulatory approval for its first Canadian clinical trial partnering with Toronto’s University Health Network. It’s recruiting quadriplegic individuals to test a brain chip that could allow them to control external devices using just their thoughts.
- It works by implanting a chip with electrode-equipped threads on the brain’s motor cortex. The chip reads brain signals and transmits them to devices via Bluetooth.
Why it matters: Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology such as Neuralink has shown immense potential to improve the lives of paralyzed individuals or people with disabilities by assisting them with mobility and communication.
Big picture: Neuralink implanted its first chip into a human in January, with the patient now able to successfully control a computer mouse using his mind. In the summer, a second patient received the chip with corrections made to stop an issue with retracting threads.
Zoom out: Multiple companies, hospitals, and researchers have been studying BCI tech in Canada for years. Most aren’t focused on implanting brain chips though, instead designing wearables to read brainwaves or using electrical stimulation to move muscles.—QH