Elon Musk Aims for Second Neuralink Brain Implant Within Days Despite Initial Challenges
Neuralink's Next Step: Aiming for the Second Human Implant Soon
Key Points:
Neuralink's Progress: Elon Musk announced that Neuralink aims to implant its second human patient within the next week.
Objective: The company seeks to aid patients with advanced paralysis-control technology.
Initial Challenges: The first implant faced some hardware issues, with only about 15% of the channels functioning.
Ongoing Improvements: Neuralink is actively working on hardware enhancements to overcome these challenges.
Neuralink’s Journey: Preparing for the Second Human Implant
Elon Musk's brain tech venture, Neuralink, is gearing up for another milestone. During a livestream on Wednesday, Musk revealed that Neuralink plans to implant its device in a second human patient "within the next week or so." This announcement comes as the company continues to refine its groundbreaking paralysis-control technology.
Neuralink is at the forefront of developing brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). These devices aim to assist patients by translating neural signals into actions, potentially offering new ways to manage paralysis. The company's first system, named Telepathy, features 64 ultra-thin threads inserted directly into the brain, capable of recording neural signals through 1,024 electrodes.
While the concept of BCIs has been explored in academic circles for decades, Neuralink is among a few companies, including Synchron, Paradromics, and Precision Neuroscience, pushing towards commercializing this technology. However, no BCI has yet received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for widespread use.
In the recent livestream, Musk mentioned that Neuralink aims to implant its device in a select number of patients this year. The exact timeline and locations for these procedures remain undisclosed.
Earlier this year, Neuralink conducted its first human implant on 29-year-old Noland Arbaugh at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, as part of an FDA-approved clinical study. Although the surgery was initially successful, some threads of the implant later retracted from Arbaugh's brain. Despite this setback, the implant has not posed any direct health risks to Arbaugh.
Currently, only about 15% of the channels in Arbaugh's implant are functional. Nonetheless, he utilizes the BCI to watch videos, read, and engage in various games, sometimes for up to 70 hours a week.
To improve the outcomes of future implants, Neuralink is addressing the issue of thread retraction. One approach includes sculpting the skull's surface to minimize gaps under the implant. The company also plans to insert some threads deeper into the brain tissue and monitor their movement more closely. Dr. Matthew MacDougall, Neuralink’s head of neurosurgery, noted that they will now insert threads at varying depths, acknowledging retraction as a potential challenge.
The FDA will continue to oversee the safety of those enrolled in Neuralink's clinical studies through regular, mandatory reports. As Neuralink advances its technology and prepares for the next implant, the world watches eagerly to see how these innovations could transform lives.
