The chip that Neuralink, owned by US billionaire Elon Musk, intended to be tested on the human brain, will not be tested, after the US Food and Drug Administration refused to approve the experiment.
According to the British Daily Mail, quoting Archyde.com, the US Food and Drug Administration has identified dozens of issues that Neuralink must address before testing the chip on humans.
The US authority’s concerns include safety aspects that include the seriousness of the built-in lithium battery, as it indicated the necessity of conducting animal tests to prove that the battery is not subject to malfunction and cannot damage brain tissue.
The authority’s concerns also include the delicate wires that the company uses in its device, which increase the risk of encephalitis, impaired function, and rupture of blood vessels.
The authority 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.
The authority’s decision comes to delay human experimentation after Musk said last December that he intends to perform the first chip implantation in a human brain in the next 6 months.
Neuralink says it aims, through this technology, to help people who suffer from paralysis, in order to restore movement at best 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.