Neuralink brain-chip implant encounters issues in first human patient
CBSN
Neuralink's brain-computer interface device has encountered issues since it was implanted in its first human subject, according to the company owned by Elon Musk.
Some of the device's electrode-studded threads started retracting from the brain tissue of quadriplegic Noland Arbaugh about a month after it was surgically implanted in late January, causing it to transmit less data, Neuralink wrote in a blog post on Wednesday.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on the malfunction that caused a reduction in bits-per-second, a measure of the speed and accuracy of the patient's ability to control a computer cursor by thinking.
On Nov. 13, 2016, Dr. Eric "Scott" Sills, a renowned California fertility doctor, called 911 and reported finding his wife and business partner Susann Sills unresponsive at the bottom of the stairs. An initial investigation revealed some evidence that was consistent with an accidental fall. But as "48 Hours" correspondent Tracy Smith reports, other evidence pointed to something more sinister. DETECTIVE: How do you know she — she got an email? MARY-KATHERINE SILLS: I woke up and my dad was just like on the covers just laying there like there wasn't enough room to get in I guess. So, he was just laying there.