Founded by Elon Musk and a group of scientists in 2016, Neuralink aims to develop brain implants that, ideally, not only partially restore the communication ability of people with disabilities but also literally help paralyzed individuals stand up. After receiving approval to conduct human research, Neuralink plans to operate on 11 patients next year.

As Bloomberg explains in its extensive coverage, Elon Musk has somewhat expedited the process of approving clinical trials of Neuralink's brain implants on humans. The usual procedure involves observing the first patient for one year after a successful operation, after which the company can obtain permission for further activities. In this case, the FDA made concessions to Neuralink, allowing the company to conduct clinical trials of implants on 11 patients simultaneously, who are expected to undergo surgery next year.

Neuralink estimates the cost of each implant operation at $10,500, but insurance companies will need to pay $40,000 for each patient. The startup has already received requests from thousands of patients, but in the coming year, 11 volunteers will be selected for the first phase of the experiment. Ideally, as Bloomberg notes, each participant should be under 40 years old and suffer from paralysis of both upper and lower limbs.

In the first stage of implantation, the surgeon will need to cut a round hole in the patient's skull above the area of the human brain responsible for limb movement. A medical robot developed by Neuralink will then introduce 16 extremely thin loops covered with polymer into the brain cortex, connecting several electrodes, each of which is 14 times thinner than a human hair and has a diameter no larger than 5 microns. Such delicate manipulations cannot be entrusted to a surgeon, so this part of the operation is automated. Next, a minicomputer, approximately the size of a five-cent coin, is installed in the skull opening, flush with the surface. Electrodes implanted in the brain are connected to the outputs of this minicomputer. All stages of the operation should take about two and a half hours, although Elon Musk ideally wants to shorten this time to 15 minutes.

Unlike most competitors' products, the Neuralink implant can transmit information wirelessly, and its battery lasts for several hours, after which it can be wirelessly charged using a special attachment for a few hours. In future versions, the implant is expected to receive up to 128 very thin cables implanted into the brain cortex, and the battery life will be extended to 11 hours. Ideally, according to Neuralink representatives, patients should be able to charge the implant during sleep using a device built into the pillow.

In 2025, the company plans to implant 27 devices, perform surgeries on another 79 patients in 2026, achieve 499 surgeries in 2027, and conduct 22,204 operations annually by 2030. Within five years, the company expects to generate $100 million in annual operating revenue. In addition to its robotic surgeon, Neuralink independently designs and produces semiconductor components. The implant should not heat up during surgery or interfere with the patient in any way, so at this stage, the company is developing and producing many components in-house. In 2021, about 12 surgical robots implanted chips in 155 animals, and last year, the number of operations increased to 294.

In the ideal scenario, Neuralink hopes to develop a separate implant for the spinal cord that will restore mobility to paralyzed individuals. The brain implant will be used to restore the ability to communicate with the external world (at least through a computer) and control bionic prosthetics. The spinal cord implant will restore the patient's own limb mobility. Monkeys living in labs where Neuralink has been installing brain implants for the last three years have already learned to control a computer cursor in games. In addition to the famous ping-pong game, they mastered moving the cursor with the power of thought across a matrix consisting of 35 square cells, which are illuminated randomly. As specific experimental animals are trained, the cursor control speed increases.

In the longer term, as Neuralink's co-founder DJ Seo notes, the company's goal is to enable billions of people to unleash their potential and exceed our biological capabilities. Since its founding in 2016, Neuralink has raised about $600 million for development, but the coming year will be a turning point in the company's history if the planned human trials are successful.