Neuralink implanted second trial patient with brain chip, Musk says
The Hindu
Neuralink's device, now in second patient, may allow paralyzed patients to control digital devices with their thoughts, showing promising results in clinical trials.
Neuralink has successfully implanted, in a second patient, its device designed to give paralysed patients the ability to use digital devices by thinking alone, according to the startup's owner Elon Musk.
Neuralink is in the process of testing its device, which is intended to help people with spinal cord injuries. The device has allowed the first patient to play video games, browse the internet, post on social media and move a cursor on his laptop.
Mr. Musk, in comments made during a podcast released late on Friday, August 2 that ran more than eight hours, gave few details about the second participant beyond saying the person had a spinal cord injury similar to the first patient, who was paralysed in a diving accident. He said 400 of the implant's electrodes on the second patient's brain are working. Neuralink on its website states that its implant uses 1,024 electrodes.
“I don’t want to jinx it but it seems to have gone extremely well with the second implant,” Mr. Musk told podcast host Lex Fridman. “There’s a lot of signal, a lot of electrodes. It’s working very well.”
Mr. Musk did not disclose when Neuralink performed the second patient's surgery. He said he expects Neuralink to provide the implants to eight more patients this year as part of its clinical trials.
The first patient, Noland Arbaugh, was also interviewed on the podcast, along with three Neuralink executives, who gave details about how the implant and the robot-led surgery work.
Before Mr. Arbaugh received his implant in January, he used a computer by employing a stick in his mouth to tap the screen of a tablet device. Mr. Arbaugh said with the implant he now can merely think about what he wants to happen on the computer screen, and the device makes it happen. He said the device has given him a modicum of independence and reduced his reliance on caregivers. Mr. Arbaugh initially faced issues after his surgery when the tiny wires of his implant retracted, resulting in a sharp reduction in the electrodes that could measure brain signals. Reuters has reported that Neuralink was aware of this issue from its animal trials.
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