[ti:Musk: Third Person Receives Computer-Brain Connection from Neuralink]
[al:Science & Technology]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2025-01-22]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]Businessman Elon Musk said a third person has had a special electronic device directly connected to their brain.
[00:11.30]The unidentified person received an implant from Musk's company Neuralink, which makes devices that link the human brain to computers.
[00:23.92]Neuralink is one of many groups working to connect the human nervous system to machines.
[00:32.05]On the social media service X, which he owns, Musk said: "We've got...three humans with Neuralinks and all are working well."
[00:43.82]Neuralink announced its first brain implant one year ago. 
[00:48.45]Recently, Musk said the company has improved its devices. 
[00:54.17]Musk also said Neuralink hopes to implant the experimental devices in 20 to 30 more people this year.
[01:02.88]The second patient reportedly has a spinal cord injury and got the implant last summer. 
[01:12.39]The person was playing video games with the help of the device and learning how to use design software.
[01:19.79]The first patient, also paralyzed after a spinal cord injury, said it helped him play video games and chess.
[01:30.66]Many other companies and research groups are working on similar projects.
[01:36.43]Two studies published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine describe how brain-computer interfaces, known as BCIs, helped people with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) communicate better.
[01:55.86]ALS is a nervous system disease that affects cells in the brain and spinal cord.
[02:03.57]Nature magazine reported last September that there were published results from 28 trials worldwide of BCIs over the past 25 years.
[02:15.15]Rajesh Rao is co-director of the Center for Neurotechnology at the University of Washington.
[02:23.03]Rao said that many research laboratories have already shown that humans can control computer cursors using BCIs.
[02:33.77]Rao said Neuralink might be different from the others in two ways. 
[02:38.44]First, the surgery to implant the device is the first to use a robot to implant flexible electrical connectors into a human brain to record brain signals and to control devices. 
[02:54.66]Second, those connectors might record from more parts of the brain than interfaces from other research efforts.
[03:03.66]Rao said other companies such as Synchron, Blackrock Neurotech and Onward Medical are carrying out BCI tests on people using methods that are different from Neuralink.
[03:17.91]Marco Baptista is chief scientific officer of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. 
[03:26.03]He called BCI technology "very exciting" with possible benefits to people with paralysis.
[03:34.15]Through clinical tests, "we'll be able to see what's going to be the winning approach," he said.
[03:40.68]"It's a little early to know." 
[03:44.01]A clinical trial follows established rules on how to design an experiment involving human subjects.
[03:52.74]Neuralink announced in 2023 that it had received permission from U.S. officials to begin testing its device in people.
[04:02.84]The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for approving the sale of medical devices.
[04:10.85]Dr. Rita Redberg studies high-risk devices at the University of California, San Francisco. 
[04:18.04]Redberg said that most medical devices go on the market without clinical trials. 
[04:26.27]However, high-risk devices that are seeking approval from the FDA before they go on the market need what is called an "investigational device exemption."
[04:38.29]Neuralink says it has this exemption.
[04:42.44]I'm Jill Robbins.