Elon Musk’s Neuralink Cleared to Start Brain Chip Trial in Canada

Canada’s University Health Network said its Toronto Western Hospital would be the first non-US site of a trial for a device created by Neuralink Corp., Elon Musk’s brain-implant company. 

“We are incredibly proud to be at the forefront of this research advancement in neurosurgery,” UHN Chief Executive Officer Kevin Smith said in an announcement. He also said UHN would be the “first and exclusive” site for the trial in Canada, but did not say when it would begin.

On Wednesday, Neuralink said that it had received approval from regulators in Canada to launch clinical trials for its device in that country.

“Health Canada has approved the launch of our first clinical trial in Canada!” the company posted on X, the social media service also owned by Musk. “Recruitment is now open.”

Neuralink added that it was seeking patients with Quadriplegia due to ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, or spinal cord injury.

Health Canada didn’t immediately provide a comment.

For months, Neuralink has been recruiting patients in the US, UK and Canada, with links to a registry on its website. Other companies in the field, such as Synchron Inc., are recruiting for their own future trials.

Neuralink’s first product aims to allow patients to control external devices, such as computers, through their thoughts. Neuralink is also working on treating other conditions such as blindness, but that project is further away. In the distant future, Musk has said Neuralink could work with healthy patients on functions such as augmenting memory.

Its first human patient, Noland Arbaugh, was implanted with Neuralink’s device earlier this year, at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.

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