Elon Musk’s Neuralink Looking to Treat Tinnitus

#394
SmallRonnie said:
Well a lot of the monkeys died in the trials so that's a risk lol.
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They are testing a brain implant. Of course some animals are going to die. That is why they test on animals first and not humans. Do you think they are going to put it in and it's going to work immediately? Stop with this nonsense! All of that animal welfare stuff is just a political attack on Elon Musk.
 
#395
Gb3 said:
They are testing a brain implant. Of course some animals are going to die. That is why they test on animals first and not humans. Do you think they are going to put it in and it's going to work immediately? Stop with this nonsense! All of that animal welfare stuff is just a political attack on Elon Musk.
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Normies aren't against animal testing per se. Death is to be expected. The issue here is whether your boy Musk was complying with ethical protocols of the humane treatment of these monkeys. Worth looking into IMO. I do believe in experimenting medically PROVIDED that the animals aren't mistreated.
 
#396
I worry Musk has become too much of a cultural lighting rod for any discussion of his investments to be productive.

Both support and critique of this device can be interpreted as "political," which adds to all of our pre-established bias of just wanting something to work and being let down by so many other devices, drugs, and treatments in the past.
 
#397
Gb3 said:
They are testing a brain implant. Of course some animals are going to die. That is why they test on animals first and not humans. Do you think they are going to put it in and it's going to work immediately? Stop with this nonsense! All of that animal welfare stuff is just a political attack on Elon Musk.
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I think it's great that they're researching this and I fully support it. It is obviously an extremely complicated and dangerous procedure. Would be great to see it being successful.

Is it normal to have a high death rate in pre-clinical trials?
 
#403
SmallRonnie said:
"Extreme Suffering": 15 of 23 Monkeys with Elon Musk's Neuralink Brain Chips Reportedly Died
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I'd like to believe something could come from this but a lot of Musk's projects are driven more by arrogance than the scientific principles he says he stands for, with the usual failed results. The one true achievement I'd credit to Musk is the Falcon 9 rocket and that's about it. Throwing the ball through the window of the Cybertruck (TWICE) sort of epitomizes his bluster and I was foolish enough to put in a reservation for it anyway but I finally pulled it once it became clear he was falling down the Qanon rabbit-hole.
 
#404
Neuralink hit with more allegations. This time pertaining to contaminated implants.

U.S. investigating Elon Musk's Neuralink over hazardous pathogens
A Department of Transportation spokesperson told Reuters about the probe after the Physicians Committee of Responsible Medicine (PCRM), an animal-welfare advocacy group, wrote to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg earlier on Thursday to alert it of records it obtained on the matter.

PCRM said it obtained emails and other documents that suggest unsafe packaging and movement of implants removed from the brains of monkeys. These implants may have carried infectious diseases in violation of federal law, PCRM said.
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Department of Transportation is now investigating the matter.

Here's a link to the letter of request by PCRM sent to the DOT.

Notable part in the letter:
Public records recently obtained by the Physicians Committee reveal that individuals working for Neuralink appear to have unsafely packaged and transported materials (specifically, implants removed from the brains of nonhuman primates) carrying infectious pathogens on several occasions. The unsafe handling may have occurred due to the failure of the Neuralink employees to undergo legally required safety training. According to emails, the materials may have been contaminated with antibiotic-resistant pathogens including Staphylococcus and Klebsiella, which can cause pneumonia, bloodstream infections, wound or surgical site infections, and meningitis, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control ("CDC"). The materials may also have been contaminated with Corynebacterium ulcerans, which is known to circulate among rhesus macaques, is a recognized "emerging human pathogen," and can produce fatal diphtheria. The materials also came from the skulls of monkeys who may have been suffering from bacterial meningitis and may have been infected with Macacine herpesvirus 1 (Herpes B), which can "lead to severe brain damage or death if you do not get treatment immediately," according to the CDC.
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#407
TinnyCanMan said:
I don't trust Elon Musk in the slightest but he has mentioned tinnitus before on his Twitter. Do you think he changed plans or did we misunderstand something?
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According to him it's probably already possible to cure tinnitus completely. i just think it's not the main thing he and his team are aiming for, that's why it's not listed (yet).
 
#409
Tesla, under Elon Musk, are nearly two years over their release date for a silly looking truck. I wouldn't hold my breath that Neuralink will move at any great speed, more-so for tinnitus.
 
#413
#414
T Toledo OH said:
Apparently you need to be deaf. There is no mention of tinnitus. Might as well just shut this thread down.
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I inquired about this through one of their general emails for questions a very while back and the response I got was any level of hearing loss or deafness, and I wasn't told "no tinnitus".
 
#415
ErikaS said:
I inquired about this through one of their general emails for questions a very while back and the response I got was any level of hearing loss or deafness, and I wasn't told "no tinnitus".
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Where does it say they are looking at hearing loss? I would consider applying for a trial, however from my reading I think the trials are only in America?
 
#416
Nick47 said:
Where does it say they are looking at hearing loss? I would consider applying for a trial, however from my reading I think the trials are only in America?
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Yes. It seems that is only open to American citizens at this time. When you go to patient registry and click on "start application", one of the questions asks if you have one of the following conditions, and it lists "hearing impairment".

I just went to the website and they completely changed the layout and presentation of it overnight. It states at one area, "We are currently focused on giving people with quadriplegia the ability to control their computers and mobile devices with their thoughts." Then further states, "In the future, we hope to restore capabilities such as vision, motor function, and speech, and eventually expand how we experience the world."

Where tinnitus even came up with this was about a year ago, someone tweeted at Elon Musk regarding Neuralink and asked, "Any hope for curing tinnitus?" His response, "Definitely. Might be less than 5 years away, as current version Neuralinks are semi-generalized neural read/write devices with ~1000 electrodes and tinnitus probably needs <<1000."

So there's that. Must have forgotten about us if the current version already has "way more" electrodes than what we would need. But yeah sounds like they are set on starting/focusing on quadriplegia.
 
#417
ErikaS said:
Yes. It seems that is only open to American citizens at this time. When you go to patient registry and click on "start application", one of the questions asks if you have one of the following conditions, and it lists "hearing impairment".

I just went to the website and they completely changed the layout and presentation of it overnight. It states at one area, "We are currently focused on giving people with quadriplegia the ability to control their computers and mobile devices with their thoughts." Then further states, "In the future, we hope to restore capabilities such as vision, motor function, and speech, and eventually expand how we experience the world."

Where tinnitus even came up with this was about a year ago, someone tweeted at Elon Musk regarding Neuralink and asked, "Any hope for curing tinnitus?" His response, "Definitely. Might be less than 5 years away, as current version Neuralinks are semi-generalized neural read/write devices with ~1000 electrodes and tinnitus probably needs <<1000."

So there's that. Must have forgotten about us if the current version already has "way more" electrodes than what we would need. But yeah sounds like they are set on starting/focusing on quadriplegia.
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I'd say that anyone considering this to evaluate how much benefit vs. risk you are comfortable with. I had DBS surgery as part of a clinical study to help US vets with their tinnitus and it made my tinnitus much worse than it was prior to the surgery.

I knew the risks going into the study and knowing that it might help vets was also a motivator. My background with being a medical device engineer also enlightened my decision.

Oh how I wish to still have the level of tinnitus that drove me to join the study now. You can always get worse.
 
#418
As someone who once worked on Tesla's Autopilot team, and having seen how the sausage is made there, I would advise serious caution. I never want to dash anyone's hopes, but please do be careful with this.
 
#419
LGuapo said:
As someone who once worked on Tesla's Autopilot team, and having seen how the sausage is made there, I would advise serious caution. I never want to dash anyone's hopes, but please do be careful with this.
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Completely agree. Until Elon enlightens the world on the method of action for how his neural nicorette patch with <1000 electrodes will actually solve tinnitus, I'll be avoiding it like the plague. I don't trust that guy as far as I could throw him.
 
#420
ErikaS said:
Yes. It seems that is only open to American citizens at this time. When you go to patient registry and click on "start application", one of the questions asks if you have one of the following conditions, and it lists "hearing impairment".

I just went to the website and they completely changed the layout and presentation of it overnight. It states at one area, "We are currently focused on giving people with quadriplegia the ability to control their computers and mobile devices with their thoughts." Then further states, "In the future, we hope to restore capabilities such as vision, motor function, and speech, and eventually expand how we experience the world."

Where tinnitus even came up with this was about a year ago, someone tweeted at Elon Musk regarding Neuralink and asked, "Any hope for curing tinnitus?" His response, "Definitely. Might be less than 5 years away, as current version Neuralinks are semi-generalized neural read/write devices with ~1000 electrodes and tinnitus probably needs <<1000."

So there's that. Must have forgotten about us if the current version already has "way more" electrodes than what we would need. But yeah sounds like they are set on starting/focusing on quadriplegia.
Click to expand...
I think that Neuralink's main focus initially has always been paralyzed people. I listened to a podcast (Joe Rogan) on it back in college and Elon stated that paralyzed people were the main focus initially.

I would be so skeptical about them drilling a 1" hole in my skull and making all kinds of neurological connections, only for there to be a problem down the road. Like there is some circuit malfunction that makes the tinnitus go crazy. I also question like how hard is it going to be to find physicians to do this procedure.
 

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