The implantation of brain chips in the first human, recently announced by Neuralink – Elon Musk’ s American medical device company – even if it proves to be safe, will still take more than a decade to be authorized for commercial use.

The study, authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2023, would have used a robot to surgically place a brain-computer interface (BCI) implant, connected to 1,024 tiny electrodes via flexible wires thinner than a strand of hair, in the region of the brain that controls the intention to move. The aim is to enable people with quadriplegia, or paralysis of all four limbs, to control devices using only their thoughts.

According to experts from the British Neuroscience Association, the implant, which has shown promising detection of neuron spikes , has great potential to help people with neurological disorders in the future. It is an excellent example of how neuroscience research is being harnessed for medical advances. However, as these interfaces require invasive neurosurgery and are still in the experimental phase, it will probably be years before they are available