The patient, known as Alex, suffered a spinal cord injury that left him with no control over his limbs and a quadriplegic.
Last month, Alex underwent surgery to receive the brain chip, and is now able to use 3D design software and play the popular video game Counter-Strike 2 using only his mind.
He said he was “very impressed” with the implant, which gives him control of an external computer with the power of his brain.
Musk’s company issued an update on the progress of the results, saying that Alex, who lost control of his limbs after a spinal cord injury, received the chip last month and his recovery was “smooth.”
The first person to receive the chip was Noland Arbaugh, who had the implant in January. Although the surgery appeared to be successful, 85 percent of the thread-based electrodes attached to his brain had become misshapen, impairing the chip’s full ability to read neural signals.
Although Arbo was still able to use the implant effectively, Neuralink wanted to avoid a repeat of what happened with Alex and developed several procedures that included reducing the chance of an air pocket forming during surgery and placing the implant deeper into the brain tissue.
Before surgery, Alex used an assistive technology called the Quadstick that allowed him to enter computer commands using his lips and breath.
But because the Quadstick only had one joystick, Alex couldn’t move and look around at the same time when playing games. That all changed with Nueralink’s brain chip.
“Just running around is so much fun because I can look from side to side, and I don’t have to move the QuadStick left and right,” Alex said. “I can think about where I need to look and it goes where I need it to go. It’s crazy.”
Nueralink’s brain chip contains 1,024 electrodes, no thicker than a human hair, that are implanted by a sewing-machine-like robot into the patient’s brain tissue.
These electrodes record the brain’s electrical activity, which is then transmitted to a computer that converts the signal into commands, such as clicking or moving a mouse pointer.
The device is powered by a battery that can be charged wirelessly.
Musk believes millions of people could have their own chips implanted by 2034.
“If all goes well, there will be hundreds of people with a Neuralink chip within a few years, maybe tens of thousands within 5 years, and millions within 10 years,” he wrote on his X account.
Alex, a former auto technician, will not only use the chip to play games, but it is hoped the technology will also help him regain his independence. He has already been able to use it to run 3D computer-aided design (CAD) software.
“Taking an idea, putting it into a design, and having a physical product as a finished product makes me feel like I’m building things again,” Alex says.
Neuralink revealed that it is now working on ways to improve the controls “to provide full functionality of a mouse and video game controller.”
Neuralink’s first two implants were part of the company’s PRIME study, which focuses on enabling people who can’t use their limbs to control computers.
Source: Metro
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2024-08-27 12:23:16
