Elon Musk’s brain technology, Neuralink, has said that the device implanted in its first patient malfunctioned weeks after the surgery.
The company disclosed this on Thursday in an update on the experiment after 100 days of the implant on the patient, Noland Arbaugh, who became paralyzed eight years ago after a diving accident. The company disclosed that some of the electrode-studded threads that sit in the brain tissue began to retract from that tissue, weeks after the January surgery.
This resulted in the device not working properly, according to the company. In response to this, Neuralink said it carried out some fixes which produced a rapid and sustained improvement in the patient.
Progress recorded
While playing down the malfunction, Neuralink said the experiment with Norland has been quite successful, as the patient has been able to do many things he could not do before the surgery.
“In the weeks since his surgery, Noland has used the Link to control his laptop from various positions, including while lying down in bed.
“He plays online computer games with friends (Chess, Civilization VI), browses the internet, live streams, and uses other applications on his MacBook, all by controlling a cursor with his mind.
“He has even used the Link to play Mario Kart on a Nintendo Switch console — something he had not been able to do since his spinal cord injury,” Neuralink said in the update.
The company said that it’s currently working on improving text entry for the device as well as cursor control — and that it eventually aims to extend to the use of physical world devices such as robotic arms and wheelchairs.
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What you should know
Neuralink is a company founded by Elon Musk in 2017 to implant electrodes into people’s brains. The company completed its first human implant in January this year
According to Musk, the Neuralink implant would enable people to control their phones or computers, and through them almost any device, just by thinking.
Neuralink builds on decades of technology aimed at implanting electrodes in human brains to interpret signals and treat conditions such as paralysis, epilepsy, and Parkinson’s disease. One early device is known as the Utah array, which was first demonstrated in a human in 2004. Many competitors have entered the field, including Synchron and Precision Neuroscience.
The Neuralink device contains more than 1,000 electrodes, far more than other implants. It targets individual neurons, while many other devices in development target signals from groups of neurons. If it works, this should enable a higher degree of precision.
Neuralink said it wants to help paralyzed people first. Eventually, Musk says his device could help people with hearing and vision loss. The billionaire has said he hopes one day the implant could allow for futuristic goals such as helping humans merge with artificial intelligence.
