Neuralink gains approval for second brain implant patient: WSJ
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The news: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given its approval for Elon Musk’s brain chip company, Neuralink, to implant its product into a second patient.
The numbers: Of the more than 1,000 quadriplegics have signed up to Neuralink’s patient registry, fewer than 100 qualify for the study. The company hopes to implant its device into 10 patients during 2024, and plans to submit applications to start similar trials in Canada and the UK in the coming months.
The context: Neuralink sought sign off from the FDA for a number of proposed fixes in the chip which caused problems for the first trial participant. According to sources cited by the WSJ, some of these fixes included embedding the chip’s wires more deeply into the brain.
Speaking about his experience with the brain chip, the first patient to receive a Neuralink chip, Noland Arbaugh, has endured a rollercoaster of emotions throughout the trial. Arbaugh’s chip was implanted in January this year, and within days was able to control a cursor on a computer screen with only his thoughts. This was a positive step for the quadriplegic who has not been able to move below his shoulders for the past eight years.
One month after the surgery, Arbaugh noticed that the device was no longer working as effectively as it had been, as most of the chip’s threads (which are thinner than a single human hair) had come loose in his brain.
Around 15% of the threads now remain in place in Arbaugh’s brain, and the Neuralink team has made software changes which have allowed him to regain the device’s original capabilities.
In the second patient, the FDA has given Neuralink the green light to implant the threads more deeply into the brain’s motor cortex, in efforts to avoid the problems faced with Arbaugh’s implant.
The source: Wall Street Journal
