News on Medial

Neuralink gets FDA nod for second patient, as first describes his journey

Livemint · 1y

Elon Musk's Neuralink has received approval from the U.S. FDA to implant its brain chip in a second person after addressing issues that arose in the first test participant. The proposed fixes involve embedding the device's ultrathin wires deeper into the brain. The first participant, Noland Arbaugh, experienced significant improvements in controlling a computer cursor with his thoughts initially, but after a month, most of the implanted wires had come loose. Arbaugh expressed disappointment but is hopeful for future improvements after Neuralink made software changes and found ways to stabilize the remaining wires. The company plans to implant 10 more people this year.