• Neuralink has begun recruiting candidates for its first in-human clinical trial.
• The divisive brain implants used by the company received FDA approval for human testing earlier this year.
• People with quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis are deemed to meet the application requirements.

In May of this year the divisive startup with ties to Elon Musk, Neuralink, received FDA approval to begin human trials of its brain implants that are designed to limit and potentially reverse the effects of chronic brain diseases and injuries.

Less than five months after receiving approval, Neuralink has now opened up enrolment for its first in-human study.

“The PRIME Study (short for Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface) – a groundbreaking investigational medical device trial for our fully-implantable, wireless brain-computer interface (BCI) – aims to evaluate the safety of our implant (N1) and surgical robot (R1) and assess the initial functionality of our BCI for enabling people with paralysis to control external devices with their thoughts,” the company noted in a blog post.

As for candidates for the in-human study, those with quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are deemed to qualify by Neuralink.

“During the study, the R1 Robot will be used to surgically place the N1 Implant’s ultra-fine and flexible threads in a region of the brain that controls movement intention. Once in place, the N1 Implant is cosmetically invisible and is intended to record and transmit brain signals wirelessly to an app that decodes movement intention,” the company added.

The objective’s for this first trial will be similar to what Neuralink has achieved while testing on monkeys, with the company noting that the, “goal of our BCI is to grant people the ability to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts alone.”

Those interested in registering, are advised to do so here.