“It’s like using the Force” on a computer cursor, according to Noland Arbaugh, referencing the Star Wars energy field. Arbaugh is a quadriplegic and the first person to get the Neuralink brain chip implant in January 2024 at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.

Elon Musk’s Neuralink has selected Miami as a clinical trial site for its brain-computer interface. Musk’s Neuralink makes devices that link the human brain to computers, focusing on giving people with quadriplegia or paralysis the ability to control computers and devices with their thoughts.

Musk’s startup company Neuralink has tapped the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine to be the second site in the country to test whether its brain chip can give people who are paralyzed the ability to use mind to wirelessly control computers, smartphones and other electronic devices.

Neuralink’s brain-computer interface technology also has been discussed for other potential uses, for example, in mental health treatments for anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder where targeted nerve stimulation could help improve the function of poorly regulated brain areas.

Neuralink selected the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine as its second site to conduct clinical trials on the innovative idea. Levi is a neurosurgeon and clinical director for the school.

The University of Miami on Monday announced that it will be the second U.S.-based site for Elon Musk’s Neuralink’s PRIME Study.