After being implanted in a patient’s brain… Elon Musk’s Neuralink chip faces a problem
Neuralink, a company owned by Elon Musk, announced on Wednesday that part of the chip recently implanted in the brain of a disabled individual encountered an issue with some of its threads disconnecting from the patient’s brain tissues.
Neuralink aims to build a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) that would enable patients to control external technology solely with their minds. The interface, called “Link,” records neural signals using 1024 electrodes via 64 threads finer than a human hair.
The chip was implanted in the head of patient Nolan Arbow, 29 years old, as part of a study to test its safety, and in the weeks following the surgery, some of the chip’s threads detached from Arbow’s brain, affecting the company’s ability to measure the speed and accuracy of the connection.
Despite the suggestion of removing the chip from Arbow’s brain, the company confirmed that the issue does not pose a direct safety hazard to him, according to a report published by the Wall Street Journal.
Neuralink stated that the detachment of some threads from Arbow’s brain tissues did not prevent the use of the chip’s BCI system for an average of eight hours per day during the week, and up to ten hours per day on weekends.
Meanwhile, patient Arbow described the chip as a “luxurious burden” and emphasized that it had helped him “reconnect with the world.”
It is worth noting that BCI technology is not exclusive to Neuralink, as it has been explored in academic circles for decades. However, the commercialization of this technology requires approval from the US Food and Drug Administration after passing safety and efficacy tests.
