(Credit: Neuralink)
Interested in having a chip built by Elon Musk implanted into your brain?
If you're one of the few who would say "yes" to that question, you can sign up for Neuralink's Patient Registry at neuralink.com/patient-registry. Dubbed the "Prime Study" (short for Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface), it's the company's first clinical trial and will take approximately six years to complete, according to the Prime Study brochure.
"By participating in the study, you'd be helping to redefine the boundaries of human capability," says the Neuralink promotional video for the clinical trial. "Imagine the joy of connecting with your loved ones, browsing the web, or even playing games using only your thoughts."
The application starts with four simple questions that are intended to weed out the majority of the population. Applicants must have a significant physical impairment to participate, such as quadriplegia, paraplegia, visual impairment or blindness, aphasia or the inability to speak, hearing impairment or deafness, and/or major limb amputation.
"We're only accepting applications from individuals with qualifying conditions at this time," says Neuralink. Applicants must also be US or Canadian residents and 18 years or older.
Those individuals stand to gain the most from the implant through quality-of-life improvements. So far, one person has received the implant. Nolan Arbaugh, a 29-year-old quadriplegic, says he is using the implant to play computer games with his mind. Arbaugh is paralyzed from the neck down due to a "freak diving accident eight years ago."
"It's all being done with my brain, you can see the cursor moving around the screen, that's all me. It's pretty cool, huh?" Arbaugh says in a video posted on X of him playing chess.
The Prime Study is being conducted with approval from the FDA. Participants undergo nine at-home and in-person visits over approximately 18 months. They participate in two, one-hour research sessions per week. Long-term follow up begins immediately after completion of the initial study and takes place over five years with a total of 20 visits.
If you are interested in announcements related to the Patient Registry but do not currently qualify, you can sign up for the Neuralink mailing list.