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The Neuralink brain chip has been implanted in a second patient as part of early human trials, Elon Musk said. Podcast host Rex Friedman said: The company did not disclose when the surgery took place or the name of the patient who underwent it. Reuters.
Musk said 400 of the 1,024 electrodes implanted in the second patient’s brain are functioning. “I don’t want to sound ominous, but it seems to be working very well,” he said. “The signal is good, there are a lot of electrodes, and it’s working very well.”
The device allows patients with spinal cord injuries to play video games, use the internet and operate electronic devices using only their thoughts, and the company announced in May that it was “accepting applications for a second participant” in its clinical trials following FDA approval.
Nolan Arbaugh, Neuralink’s first implant patient, described the procedure as “super easy.” In demos, the company showed Arbaugh moving a cursor on a laptop screen, pausing an on-screen music device, playing chess and more. Civilization VI.
Arbaugh himself joined Musk and Fridman for an extended podcast, in which he said the device allows him to make anything happen on a computer screen just by thinking about it, reducing his reliance on caregivers.
But soon after the procedure, the company encountered problems with some of the electrodes retracting from the brain.The problem was later partially resolved by modifying the algorithm to make the implant more sensitive.Neuralink told the FDA that in a second procedure, it would insert the implant’s threads deeper into the patient’s brain, to prevent them from moving as much as in Arbaugh’s case.
Neuralink has previously tested implants on animals, including chimpanzees, and some of its testing methods have come under federal scrutiny.
Despite these issues, the company announced that more than 1,000 volunteers have participated in its second surgery trial, and Musk said Neuralink hopes to implant the chip in up to eight more patients by the end of 2024.
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