Neuralink human trial now approved in Canada, clinical trials to start

Health Canada has approved the first human trial for Neuralink’s clinical studies in the country. This marks the first time a clinical trial from the company will take place outside of the U.S.

The launch of the first Canadian-based human trial from Neuralink will take place at Toronto Western Hospital. It’s deemed to be the “first and exclusive surgical site” for the procedure. Neuralink first opened its patient registry for Canada in March. With regulators now giving the company the green light, “recruitment is now open,” Neuralink announced.

For the uninitiated, Neuralink is an Elon Musk-owned company which embeds an implant into the brain of a participant. The chip can analyze and interpret neural activity. It’s then able to be controlled wirelessly via a computer or smartphone. The goal of the clinical trial is said to “evaluate the safety of [its] implant and surgical robot and assess the initial functionality of [its Brain Computer Interface] for enabling people with quadriplegia to control external devices with their thoughts.”

In early 2024, the first human patient was outfitted with an implant. Noland Arbaugh, a U.S.-based resident did experience some issues during the first phases of the trial. The implant’s threads retracted from their brain. However, any subsequent issues have been laid to rest. This week, Arbaugh took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce that he’ll be using his implant for 72 hours straight to “demonstrate what Neuralink can do.” To avoid any similar thread retraction issues, Neuralink is ensuring proper measures are looked at for its second patient.

Neuralink is looking to run trials in Canada on those who “have limited or no ability to use both hands due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)”.

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Source: Engadget