Neuralink demonstrates control of a powered wheelchair through a clinical implant

Neuralink demonstrates how a brain implant controls a powered wheelchair

On July 23, Neuralink released a video featuring a clinical trial participant. The implant converts imagined movement into motion of an on-screen cursor, which then sets the wheelchair’s direction and speed. PRIME, the company’s first human study, is testing N1 as a means of controlling external devices.

A powered wheelchair is usually controlled with a joystick operated by the hand, head, or another part of the body. In the Neuralink video, the participant issues commands through an implanted brain-computer interface. The device records electrical activity in the brain, and software translates its patterns into cursor movement.

The cursor moves within an application that displays the view from a camera mounted at the front of the wheelchair. Moving the cursor up drives the wheelchair forward, moving it down drives it backward, and moving it sideways turns it. The farther the cursor moves from the center, the faster the wheelchair travels. When the participant stops issuing a command, the cursor slowly returns to the center and the wheelchair stops. Here, the on-screen pointer conveys the person’s intention to a physical machine in the room.

“At first, my movement was jerky, but after a few minutes, controlling it felt almost natural,” the participant says in the video.

He says that using a conventional joystick required him to tilt his head, which caused pain, while the implant allowed him to sit upright. The interface gives the person a way to decide independently where to go and when to stop.

PRIME plans to enroll 15 adults with severe paralysis caused by spinal cord injury or ALS. The study is evaluating the safety of N1 and the robot used to implant it, as well as the device’s ability to operate external equipment.

In this demonstration, the person selects the direction of travel and when to stop, while the wheelchair carries out the movement. The brain signal completes the full path from intention to movement through physical space.