The new trial evaluates the use of the Elon Musk-backed company’s N1 BCI implant to control an investigational assistive robotic arm. Neuralink claimed in a post on X (the social media platform owned by Musk, formerly known as Twitter) that it plans to enable cross-enrollment between its ongoing PRIME study and its new CONVOY study.
Currently, the company’s BCI implant, called “Telepathy” is being evaluated as a technology that enables people with quadriplegia to control external devices with their thoughts. The remotely rechargeable implant goes along with electrode-laced threads that go further into the brain. The company also has an R1 robot designed to implant the BCI system while avoiding vasculature.
“We’re excited to announce the approval and launch of a new feasibility trial to extend BCI control using the N1 Implant to an investigational assistive robotic arm,” the company wrote. “This is an important first step towards restoring not only digital freedom, but also physical freedom.”
The company completed the first human implant of its BCI as part of the PRIME study in January. A nine-minute livestream demonstration showed Noland Arbaugh using the Neuralink BCI to move a computer cursor and play chess online. The company also shared plans for another human implant this past summer. Last week, Canadian authorities granted Neuralink approval to study its BCI there as well.
Analysts see a total addressable market (TAM) worth around $400 billion in the U.S. alone for BCI technology.Learn more about BCIs and some of the players in the space HERE.
