Brain musk chip... official approval to start human trials

 The company, "Neuralink", owned by US billionaire Elon Musk, which intends to experiment with implanting an electronic chip in a human brain, said that it had obtained the green light from the US Food and Drug Administration to start the first human clinical trial.

And the company published a tweet in this regard, saying: “We are excited to inform you that we have received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to launch the first clinical trial.” "This is the result of the amazing work that the Neuralink team has done in close collaboration with the US Food and Drug Administration and represents an important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many more people," she added.

Musk had previously expected, on at least four occasions since 2019, that Neuralink, which was founded in 2016, would obtain the necessary approvals to start experiments with its electronic chip on humans to treat certain medical conditions such as paralysis and blindness.

The US Food and Drug Administration attributed the reasons for its rejection of the experiment previously to the existence of concerns that include the danger of the built-in lithium battery, as it stressed the need to conduct animal tests to prove that the battery is not subject to malfunction, and cannot harm brain tissue.

Management concerns also include the fine wires the company uses in the chip, which increase the risk of encephalitis, impeding its functions, and rupture of blood vessels, according to the British newspaper, The Guardian. The administration also asked about the issue of the high temperature of the chip, and the extent to which it could be removed from the brain without causing any damage.

"Neuralink" says that it aims, through the chip and the technology that works on it, to help people who suffer from paralysis, in order to restore movement in the best case or control computers and mobile phones to live independently.

Musk believes that the strategic goal is to one day reach a treatment for brain disorders through chips, in addition to brain and spinal cord injuries, and to be able to restore sight to people even if they were born without it. Musk, who expressed his confidence in the revolutionary technology by saying that he is ready to implant it in his children, hopes that the role of the electronic chip will grow to be used in healthy people as well, and that it will contribute to the treatment of obesity, autism and depression.