In the past 2024, an unprecedented advancement in the field of neurosurgery occurred at the Western Hospital in Toronto, Canada. Two 30-year-old Canadian men – one from Ontario and the other from Alberta – were operated on by Dr. Andres Lozano, a neurosurgeon at the University Health Network, who implanted Neuralink brain chips, which allowed them to regain the mobility taken away by their spinal injuries. These implants were developed by Elon Musk and are wireless brain chips. Although the results are quite encouraging, Barry Munro, the director of development of the Canadian Spinal Research Organization, has advised caution, as it is still a clinical trial.
In fact, it is not the only company conducting this, as others like Sychron are also working with their own chips. In fact, Munro was the first patient to receive this type of operation, and he experienced how the chip slipped from his brain weeks after the operation. Although he is now stabilized, he urges caution with the hopes placed on this type of intervention. Canadian patients will be monitored for a year, so that the research team can assess their progress. In addition, they will also be able to enroll 4 more patients who have been paralyzed due to a spinal cord injury or who have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and who wish to participate in this clinical trial.
Neuralink
As stated on its official website, Neuralink Corporation is an American technology company specializing in the development of brain-computer interfaces, implants (also known as Brain-Computer Interfaces, or BCI technology). It was founded on June 21, 2016, by the tycoon Elon Musk, and is headquartered in the Pioneer building in San Francisco, California. The main function of this company is the development of implantable chips with electrodes that allow the connection of the human brain with external devices.
Pioneering Operations
This September, a procedure took place at Western Hospital in Toronto that could change the lives of the patients involved. It is an operation that involved the implantation of a wireless brain chip from Neuralink and is part of the first clinical trial being conducted outside the United States. The patients, two 30-year-old men from Alberta and Ontario, suffered from spinal cord injuries that prevented them from moving. The procedure was carried out by the neurosurgeon from the university Health Network, Dr. Andres Lozano, who led the surgical team at Western Hospital in Toronto.
What was obtained from those interventions?
The interventions took place on August 27 and September 3, and the patients were able to leave the hospital just the morning after their operation. I brought intervention. The patients could move a computer cursor almost immediately. How is this possible?
As Dr. Lozano explains, “Electrodes were implanted in the motor area of each patient’s brain to harness neuronal signals and translate those signals into actions on an external device, bypassing the need for physical movement. The first patient was able to control a cursor simply by thinking about it within minutes. It is extremely fast. The signals are decoded, and artificial intelligence reads the signals and then translates them into movement on the cursor. They just think about it, and it happens”.
One step at a time
Although the predictions are encouraging, not all voices are positive about this operation. This is the case of Barry Munro, the director of development for the Canadian Organization for Spinal Research, who explained that he had been a patient of this type of operation, and that last year his device began to slip from his brain, delaying his progress of improvement. He cites that they gave him ‘false hopes’, and although he believes that the expectations seem good, he prefers to go one step at a time.
What now?
From now on, patients will be monitored for one year in order for the research team to stay updated on their progress. It is important to determine if this type of operation adds value to the patient’s life, or if the side effects outweigh the benefits. Additionally, the clinical trial accepts four more patients from the United States who have been paralyzed due to a spinal cord injury or who have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
According to Lozano, “It is really a preliminary step to see if this should be scaled up and deployed to a larger population. The device right now is a cursor, but in the future, you could drive a car, you could drive your wheelchair, you could drive a robot”.