Musk: brain-computer interface company Neuralink is expected to start human trials in six months.

CTOnews.com, December 1 (Xinhua)-- brain-computer interface company Neuralink held a demonstration of Show & Tell today, and CEO Elon Musk said Neuralink is expected to begin human trials within six months. Most of the documents have been submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to seek approval for clinical trials of wireless brain chips.

Musk says the goal of Neuralink is to create a universal I / O interface for the brain that can help people with debilitating diseases. He reiterated Neuralink's confidence that its equipment would help people with brain injuries and bridge the gap between computers and the human brain.

Musk stressed that Neuralink respects its animal subjects. The company conducts extensive benchmarking before implanting Neuralink devices into animals.

Musk says Neuralink can restore eyesight, even in people who are born blind. The company also believes that Neuralink devices can restore full function of the severed spinal cord.

Neuralink, which has been founded for six years, first demonstrated its "sewing machine-like" implant robot three years ago, implanted its technology into the heads of pigs two years ago and primates 19 months ago.

In April 2021, Neuralink went through a turbulent period: Max Hodak, the company's co-founder, quietly resigned after that event.

Earlier in February, Neuralink confirmed that the monkey had died during a prototype test of BCI implants at the University of California, Davis Primate Center, but rejected allegations of animal abuse by the committee of responsible medical doctors. In July, doctors at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York preempted Neuralink by successfully installing the company's one-and-a-half-inch device on a person with ALS, who had lost the ability to move and communicate independently, using the device to surf the Internet and send text messages, translating his ideas into computer commands. In the same month, it was revealed that Musk was having an affair with a Neuralink executive who is now pregnant with his twins.

CTOnews.com learned that although Neuralink received FDA's groundbreaking device certification in July 2020, Neuralink is still working to obtain FDA approval for its implants.