Elon Musk's brain-computer interface implant startup Neuralink has received approval from Health Canada to perform a clinical trial on its N1 brain implant and R1 robot, which is used to place the implant into the brain. 

The ‘Canadian Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface’ (CAN-PRIME) study will be performed by the University Health Network (UHN) hospital at its Toronto Western Hospital. 

CAN-PRIME will assess the safety of the company's N1 implant, designed to allow individuals to control a computer or mobile device using their mind, and the company's R1 surgical ‘Robot, used to place each of the 64 threads of the N1 implant into a patient's brain.

The trial will evaluate the N1 and R1 robot in patients with tetraparesis or tetraplegia and is targeting Canadian residents with cervical spinal cord injury or the neurological disease ALS who also have a life expectancy of at least 12 months. 

A team of experts at UHN will perform the surgical procedures. 

THE LARGER TREND

Neuralink is currently looking for individuals to participate in its PRIME study in the U.S., a similar clinical trial for its brain-computer interface designed to provide individuals with quadriplegia the ability to use digital devices by thinking. 

Earlier this year, Neuralink completed its first successful device implantation in a patient, who has since used the company's BCI for various applications, including playing video games and online chess. 

Last month, the company received FDA breakthrough device designation for Blindsight, an implant that aims to restore vision in individuals who are blind. 

Blindsight implants a microelectrode array into the visual cortex of a person’s brain. The array then activates neurons, which then provide the individual with a visual image.

Other companies in the space include Boston-based brain-computer interface technology company Neurable, which announced a partnership with Canadian precision health company Healthspan Digital in March. 

Precision Neuroscience is a brain-computer interface company that connects AI with human intelligence. Earlier this month, the company secured $93 million in a planned $100 million funding round, with the deal valuing the startup at around $500 million.