Neuralink has successfully implanted a second patient with its device designed to give paralyzed patients the ability to use digital devices by thinking for themselves, according to the startup’s owner Elon Musk.
Neuralink is testing its device to help people with spinal cord injuries.
The device allowed the first patient to play video games, browse the Internet, post to social media and move a cursor on his laptop.
Musk, in comments made during a podcast broadcast Friday night that lasted more than eight hours, gave few details about the second participant, beyond saying the person suffered a spinal cord injury similar to that of the first patient, who was paralyzed in a diving accident. Musk said 400 of the electrodes on the implant on the second patient’s brain are working. Neuralink says on its website that its implant uses 1,024 electrodes.
“I don’t want to jinx it, but it looks like the second implant went extremely well,” Musk told podcast host Lex Fridman. “There’s a lot of signals, a lot of electrodes. It works very well.”
Musk did not reveal when Neuralink performed the second patient’s surgery. He said he expects Neuralink to provide the implants to eight more patients this year as part of its clinical trials.
The first patient, Noland Arbaugh, was also interviewed on the podcast, as were three Neuralink executives, who gave details on how the implant and robotic surgery work.
Before receiving his implant in January, Arbaugh used a computer by placing a stick in his mouth to touch a tablet screen. Arbaugh said that with the implant, he can now simply think of what he wants to see happen on the computer screen, and the device makes it happen.
He said the device gave him a modicum of independence and reduced his dependence on caregivers.
Arbaugh ran into problems after his surgery when the tiny wires in his implant retracted, causing the electrodes that can measure brain signals to be severely reduced. Reuters reported that Neuralink was aware of the problem from its animal testing.
Neuralink said it restored the implant’s ability to monitor Arbaugh’s brain signals by making changes, including tweaking its algorithm to make it more sensitive. Arbaugh improved on his previous world record for how quickly he can control a cursor with his mind alone “with only about 10 to 15 percent of the electrodes working,” Musk said in the podcast.
Musk also said he had spoken with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, whom he supported, about forming a commission to improve “government efficiency” by reducing corporate regulation, and would be willing to participate.
Musk said he believes U.S. regulations are stifling innovation.
