Elon Musk will have to wade through tens of thousands of volunteers to help him trial his new brain microchip for his company Neuralink.
The Tesla tycoon is preparing to launch a six-year clinical trial of the 'brain-computer interface' after getting the all-clear in September, and is looking to recruit paralysed volunteers for the first stage. The company is particularly interested in people who suffering from spinal column injuries and the deadly motor neuron disease ALS.
The company's website reads: "Brain-computer interfaces have the potential to change lives for the better. We want to bring this technology from the lab into people's homes."
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And 'thousands of people' are said to be lining up to be first in line to receive the BCI, according to Ashlee Vance, one of Musk's biographers.
Vance, who says she has visited the Neuralink offices ten times in the last three years, said there is an 'outpouring of interest from thousands of prospective patients'.
She added, in a recent report for Bloomberg, that the company plans to operate on 11 people next year, a figure that could eventually reach 22,000 by 2030.
Neuralink's initial goal is to give people with quadriplegia – paralysis below the neck affecting both arms and legs – the "ability to control their computers and mobile devices" using their thoughts.
However, ambitions for the tech start-up don't stop there. The chip hopes to "restore capabilities" in people with other health issues, including problems with motor function, vision and even speech.
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In a scientific paper titled Brain-Computer Interfaces in Medicine, authors Jerry J. Shih, Dean J. Krusienski, and Jonathan R. Wolpaw explain: "Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) acquire brain signals, analyse them, and translate them into commands that are relayed to output devices that carry out desired actions.
"The main goal of BCI is to replace or restore useful function to people disabled by neuromuscular disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cerebral palsy, stroke, or spinal cord injury."
Neuralink eventually hopes to "expand how we experience the world", sparking hope it may one day be useful for people who aren't suffering from health issues or disabilities. Neuroscientist Philip Sabes, who founded Neuralink with Musk, previously said the chip could potentially have mood-boosting effects and may be used to treat mental health issues such as depression, the Daily Star previously reported.
“This might sound like it’s getting towards sci-fi," he said during a London conference. "But the idea that you can wake up and dial up your mood is something that might be a possibility."
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