Musk recently revealed on a podcast that his brain computer startup Neuralink has successfully implanted its device into a second patient, marking another step forward in the company's brain computer implantation research.
Neuralink completes second implant surgery
This implantation is part of Neuralink's PRIME research. The study aims to conduct clinical trials of implant technology in patients with quadriplegia caused by spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The goal of the implant is to help patients control external devices, such as computer mice, solely through their thoughts.
After the first patient was implanted before, the device allows the patient to move the cursor on the laptop to play video games, browse the Internet, post on social media and other operations. Musk did not disclose details about the second implanted patient, only stating that the participant's spinal cord injury was similar to that of the first patient.
Musk said that the 400 electrodes implanted in the brain of the second patient are working. Neuralink states on its website that its implant uses 1024 electrodes.
Musk revealed, "I don't want Crowbeak, but the second implant surgery seems to be progressing very smoothly so far... there are many signals, many electrodes. It's running very well
Musk did not disclose when Neuralink performed surgery on the second patient. However, he stated that he expects Neuralink to implant another 8 patients this year as part of its clinical trials.
The first patient had a good implantation effect
In last Friday's podcast program, the first implanted patient, Nolan Arbaugh, and three executives from Neuralink were also interviewed. They provided a detailed explanation of how implant and robot led surgeries work.
Before Abo underwent implantation surgery in January this year, he could only tap the screen of his tablet with a stick in his mouth.
Abo said that after undergoing implantation surgery, he now only needs to think about how he wants to operate on the computer screen, and the device will make the computer respond. He sighed that this device gave him some independence and reduced his dependence on caregivers.
However, Abo soon encountered a problem after the surgery: as the thin wires of the implant retracted, the number of electrodes that could measure brain signals sharply decreased. Regarding this, Neuralink executives stated that by modifying the algorithm to make the device more sensitive, they have restored the ability of the implant to monitor Abo's brain signals.
Musk also stated that he has had conversations with Trump to discuss forming a committee aimed at improving "government efficiency" by reducing business regulation. Musk said he is willing to participate in this committee - in his opinion, US regulation hinders innovation.