Neuralink has successfully implanted a second patient with its device designed to give paralyzed patients the ability to use digital devices simply by thinking, according to startup owner Elon Musk.
Neuralink is in the process of testing its device, which is intended to help people with spinal cord injuries. The device has enabled the first patient to play video games, browse the Internet, post on social media and move the cursor on his laptop.
Musk, in comments made during a podcast released Friday night that lasted more than eight hours, gave few details about the second participant beyond saying the person had 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 in the second patient’s brain are working. Neuralink on its website states its implant uses 1,024 electrodes.
“I don’t want to jinx it, but it seems to have gone very well with the second implant,” Musk told podcast host Lex Fridman. “There’s a lot of signal, a lot of electrodes. It’s working very well.”
Musk did not disclose when Neuralink performed the surgery on the second patient. Musk 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, along with three Neuralink executives, who gave details about how the implant and robot-guided surgery work.
Before Arbaugh received his implant in January, he used a computer by using a toothpick in his mouth to tap the screen of a tablet. Arbaugh said that with the implant he can now just think about what he wants to happen on the computer screen, and the device makes it happen. He said the device has given him a modicum of independence and reduced his dependence on caregivers.
Arbaugh initially had problems after surgery when the tiny wires in his implant retracted, leading to a dramatic reduction in the electrodes that could measure brain signals. Reuters reported that Neuralink was aware of this problem from its animal trials.
Neuralink has said it restored the implant’s ability to monitor Arbaugh’s brain signals by making changes that included modifying its algorithm to make it more sensitive. Arbaugh has improved on his previous world record for the speed at which he can control a cursor with thoughts alone “with only about 10 or 15 percent of the electrodes working,” Musk said on the podcast.
Musk also said he had spoken to Donald Trump, whom he has supported in the US presidential race, about forming a commission aimed at improving “government efficiency” by reducing business regulation, and that he would be willing to participate. Musk said he believed US regulations hindered innovation.