EFE |
Elon Musk, founder of the Neuralink company, stated on Tuesday that the first patient implanted with a brain chip from this technology company is now able to control a computer cursor through his thoughts.
"It seems to have fully recovered with no adverse effects that we know of and is able to control the cursor and move it on the screen just by thinking," the tech mogul said through a Spaces session on the X platform.
Until this first implant, inserted last month, such brain applications had been developed in a single direction: from the brain outward (usually to a computer processing signals). Still, the Neuralink project aims to also transfer information in the other direction, toward the brain.
The Neuralink startup has specifically focused on designing implants for humans capable of interpreting brain signals to control different technologies. This could enable people who have lost senses such as vision, touch, or speech to recover them.
Recently, the company specified that they were working concurrently on two types of implants, one to restore vision "even in those who have never had it," and another to restore basic bodily functions in people with paralysis due to spinal cord damage.
Neuralink began recruiting patients for its first human clinical trial in the fall, after receiving approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May.