Two Toronto hospital patients are now the first Canadians to have Elon Musk’s Neuralink brain chip implanted in the country.
The University Health Network (UHN) said in a news release Thursday the operations, conducted on Aug. 27 and Sept. 3 at Toronto Western Hospital, make it the first Canadian hospital to successfully implant the wireless brain-computer interface.
UHN also said the surgeries were the first Neuralink operations performed outside the United States.
The procedures were part of the Canadian Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface Study, a clinical trial evaluating the safety and functionality of Neuralink’s implant and surgical robot. Musk, the world’s richest man, co-founded Neuralink in 2016.
“We are incredibly proud to be at the forefront of this revolutionary advancement in neurosurgery,” said Dr. Thomas Forbes, UHN surgeon-in-chief, in a statement.
“This achievement reflects the dedication and expertise of our world-leading surgical and research teams, and our commitment to delivering the most innovative and effective treatments for patients.”
The trial, launched last November, aims to enable people with quadriplegia to control external devices using their thoughts. Recruitment for it is still open, and individuals with limited or no ability to use both hands due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may be eligible to participate, UHN said.
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The two Canadian patients have been living with cervical spinal cord injuries. They will participate in follow-up appointments and research sessions as they learn to use the devices, the hospital added.
“The patients who volunteered to be the first in Canada are remarkable individuals, making significant contributions to advancing science and healthcare,” said Dr. Andres Lozano, the Alan and Susan Hudson Cornerstone Chair in Neurosurgery at UHN, in a statement.
The Neuralink implant consists of a transmitter attached to ultra-fine “threads” that record neural activity. The implant is surgically inserted into a patient’s brain by a robot because the implant threads are so fine “that they can’t be inserted by the human hand,” according to the start-up’s website.
The implant transmits the electrical signals picked up by the threads wirelessly to the “Neuralink Application,” which decodes that brain activity into actions, like moving a mouse on a computer screen. This is how BCIs can “read thoughts.” Typically, these technologies use artificial intelligence or machine learning models to help identify which brain signals correspond to which actions.
In January 2024, Neuralink completed its first implant in a human brain, joining the likes of similar companies testing the technology on humans for a number of medical applications, such as restoring sight to the blind and allowing disabled people to interact with computers with their thoughts.
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