Neuralink reports stability in brain chip implant for first trial participant
The tiny wires of Neuralink brain chip implant, used in the first participant of a trial run by Elon Musk’s company, have become “more or less very stable,” a company executive announced on Wednesday.
Initial instability and subsequent stabilization
In May, Neuralink revealed that several tiny wires inside the brain of Noland Arbaugh, who is paralyzed from the shoulders down due to a 2016 diving accident, had shifted from their original positions.
“Once you do the brain surgery it takes some time for the tissues to come in and anchor the threads in place, and once that happens, everything has been stable,” explained Dongjin “D.J.” Seo, a Neuralink executive.
Plans for further trials
Currently, Arbaugh, based in Arizona, is the only patient to have received the implant. However, Elon Musk stated his hope to have trial participants in the high single digits by the end of this year.
Risk mitigation and surgical advancements
To enhance the procedure’s success, Neuralink is implementing risk mitigation measures such as skull sculpting and normalizing carbon dioxide levels in patients’ blood, executives said during a live stream on the social media platform X.
“In upcoming implants, our plan is to sculpt the surface of the skull very intentionally to minimize the gap under the implant… that will put it closer to the brain and eliminate some of the tension on the threads,” said Matthew MacDougall, Neuralink’s head of neurosurgery.
The goal of the technology
Neuralink aims to test its implant to enable paralyzed patients to use digital devices through thought alone. The device functions by using tiny wires, thinner than a human hair, to capture signals from the brain and translate those into actions, such as moving a mouse cursor on a computer screen.
Musk emphasized during the livestream that the device does not harm the brain. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had initially raised safety concerns when considering the device years ago but ultimately granted approval last year for human trials to commence.
Current achievements and future developments
So far, the device has allowed Arbaugh to play video games, browse the internet, and move a cursor on his laptop by thinking alone, according to the company’s blog posts and videos.
Neuralink is also developing a new device that it believes will require half the number of electrodes to be implanted in the brain, making it more efficient and powerful, the executives said.