Overview
- Sebastian Gomez-Pena, paralysed from the neck down, is one of seven participants in the first UK clinical trial and reports practical computer use through the device.
- The five-hour procedure at University College London Hospital used Neuralink’s R1 robot to insert ultra-thin threads carrying signals from 1,024 electrodes in the motor cortex.
- Neural activity is sent wirelessly to a skull-mounted processor and decoded by machine-learning software to translate intended hand movements into on-screen cursor actions and clicks.
- Clinicians leading the study describe the early performance as encouraging, with UCLH neurosurgeon Harith Akram calling the technology potentially transformative for severe paralysis.
- Neuralink says about 21 people across the US, Canada, the UK and the UAE have received implants, and notes that results are not yet peer-reviewed and broader, longer-term trials are required before any licensing.