Elon Musk wants to revolutionize the world of health. The tycoon intends, through his neurotechnology company Neuralink Corpcombat diseases that affect the brain such as blindness or different types of paralysis through the implantation of an innovative brain chip.
The implant, the size of a coin, will have the mission of collecting data from the brain and transferring it wirelessly to a computer or tablet in order to obtain useful information on brain activity and be able to interpret people’s thoughts.
Musk’s company has already received authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin clinical trials of the chip in 2024. For them, Neuralink is looking for patients with paralysis, between 18 and 40 years old, who want to participate in the research, which will last about six years.
The project aims to perform 11 surgeries in 2024, 27 in 2025 and 79 in 2026. After these first trials, they want to increase the implants and perform 499 surgeries in 2027, reaching 22,204 in 2030.
In this project there is currently fierce competition for Musk, especially through two companies: Synchronous y Onward. These companies have been developing brain implants and technology related to the interpretation of thoughts for more than a year.