Elon Musk’s Neuralink has received approval from Canada’s top medical body to perform human trials, the brain implant company said Wednesday.
Neuralink’s first clinical trial in Canada will be focused on testing the functionality of its brain implant, intended to help paraplegic patients use digital devices with their minds.
The implant procedure will be performed by surgeons at the University Health Network hospital in Toronto.
If the implant works, it will be the third time Neuralink has implanted its brain-computer interface chip into a human after doing so in the U.S. Both subjects in America have praised the technology and used it to operate computers and play video games.
However, the company’s first implant faced issues when several of its threads retracted from the patient’s brain, reducing its capabilities.
Neuralink has also faced pushback from U.S. regulators and former employees, who have accused the company of rushing its animal testing phase and practicing animal cruelty. Neuralink has denied these claims and has pointed to the success of its human trials as evidence of success.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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