Neuralink has chosen another clinic to implant its brain interface
Neuralink has announced the selection of another clinic to perform N1 Telepathy neural interface surgeries for the PRIME clinical trial. The clinic is the University of Miami Health System. This is the second clinic to partner with the company in the US and the third overall.
Neuralink has selected @UMiamiHealth as the second site for the PRIME Study!
If you have quadriplegia due to ALS or SCI, you may qualify. Visit our Patient Registry to learn more and apply.https://t.co/IaQkTLKOLI
— Neuralink (@neuralink) January 27, 2025
University of Miami Health System
The University of Miami Health System is a leading healthcare provider in South Florida, integrating patient care with research and education at the University of Miami School of Medicine. UHealth is ranked among the best hospitals in Florida by U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals 2024-25.
Special requirements
Neuralink certainly has special requirements that affect the choice of clinics. These include:
- Discretion – the first implantation was carried out in 100% secrecy. We only know about the second user that his name is Alex and about the third we only know that he exists. Neuralink requires special discretion from clinics.
- Security – safety must be ensured for Neuralink patients and employees. Elon Musk is a controversial figure, Neuralink is a controversial project and activists of all kinds are just swarming in the USA.
- One ton robot – the R1 neurosurgical robot, which injects electrode threads into the brain, weighs around one metric ton (2200 pounds). Probably not every clinic has an operating room that could accommodate it.
Three Clinics
Here’s the list of clinics that Neuralink intends to use for its surgeries, as of today:
| country: | clinic: | address: | surgeries performed: |
| USA | Barrow Neurological Institute | Phoenix, Arizona | 3 |
| USA | University of Miami Health System | Miami, Florida | 0 |
| Canada | Krembil Brain Institute | Toronto | 0 |
Three patients
Neuralink plans to have around 20-30 users by the end of 2025. Here’s the current user list:
| # | name: | gender: | age when implanted: | date of implantation: | place of implantation: | clinic: | device type: | devices: | cerebral hemisphere: | brain region: |
| 1 | Noland Arbaugh | male | 29 years | 2024-01-28 | Phoenix, Arizona | Barrow Neurological Institute | N1 Telepathy | 1 | left | motor cortex, right hand |
| 2 | Alex | male | between 2024-07-10 and 2024-08-02 | Phoenix, Arizona | Barrow Neurological Institute | N1 Telepathy | 1 | motor cortex | ||
| 3 | unknown | end of 2024 | Phoenix, Arizona | Barrow Neurological Institute | N1 Telepathy | 1 | motor cortex |
Five countries
According to available information, Neuralink plans to operate in the countries listed in the table below. Three countries already have patient registries and two of them have granted permission for clinical trials:
| country: | patient registry: | clinical trials approval: | clinics: | surgeries performed: |
| USA | active, recruiting candidates | granted | Barrow Neurological Institute | 3 |
| Canada | active, recruiting candidates | granted | Krembil Brain Institute kliniky University Health Network (UHN) | 0 |
| Great Britain | active, recruiting candidates | — | — | 0 |
| New Zealand | — | — | — | 0 |
| United Arab Emirates | — | — | — | 0 |
