In the coming week, Elon Musk’s neural science company Neuralink will implant a chip into the brain of its second human test subject. Neuralink is attempting surgical changes to resolve issues that arose during the first human trial in January. During the first trial, a problem arose when a portion of the wires connecting the chip to the brain fell out a few weeks after the surgery. This reduced the amount of data that could be collected from the brain.
During Musk’s live stream on July 10, Musk and the Neuralink executives stated, “We hope to implant brain-computer interface (BCI) chips into a single-digit number of patients, close to double digits, this year.”
For those who have suffered physical damage and have paralyzed limbs, Neuralink’s BCI chip is a device that controls various devices. Neuralink has developed the technology to implant BCI chips into the brain. For the first time in January, they implanted a BCI chip into the brain of the first human test subject, a patient with limb paralysis named Nolan Arbo.
The BCI is the size of a 25-cent coin, similar to a hockey puck. The round BCI contains a data processing chip, a battery, and a communication device. It also has 64 wires attached, each with 16 electrodes. The ends of the wires are thinner than a hair strand, and they are inserted into the brain’s motor cortex, connecting the BCI to the brain.
Musk explained that the first human test subject, Arbo, is functioning normally. Musk shared, “Despite this, he watches videos for up to 70 hours weekly.” He also emphasized, “He plays chess, video games, and reads books.”
However, he stated, “Arbo’s BCI is only operating at about 15%.” This is due to some of the wires connecting the BCI to the brain falling out after surgery. This is why Neuralink is changing its surgical methods for next week’s second human trial. Seo Dong Jin, Vice President of Neuralink, said, “Shaving off the surface of the skull to minimize the gap between the implant, which covers the BCI, and the skull is one of the changes in the surgical method.”
Neuralink plans to insert wires deeper into the brain to track how much movement the BCI induces. Dr. Matthew MacDougall, Head of Neurosurgery at Neuralink, said, “We will insert wires at various depths.”
Regarding this, an FDA spokesperson stated, “The FDA will continue to monitor the safety of Neuralink’s device through essential and regular reports.”
Meanwhile, it is known that no companies, including Neuralink, have received FDA approval to commercialize BCI devices.
