Neuralink admits unforeseen (and outdated) problem with the first implant in a human – Science

One hundred days after Neuralink’s first human brain implantthe company founded by Elon Musk updated information about the experience and confirmed the existence of problems which had already been reported by The Wall Street Journal. In a note on the website, the company reveals that, in the first weeks after the implant, part of the connections placed in the brain have retractedreducing the number of electrodes working.

To respond to the unforeseen, the team had to modify the recording algorithm to make it more sensitive to neuronal signals which he continued to be able to measure. “We have improved the techniques for translating these signals into cursor movements and improved the user interface”, also explains the note now published.

The company guarantees that the changes quickly produced results and made it possible to improve the performance of the computer-brain interface (BCI), ensuring that what was planned never jeopardized patient safety.

Watch the video explaining Neuralink about the system

O Neuralink’s BCI aims to help people with paralysis interact with electronic equipment with the power of the mind, which is to say using only neurological signals. It uses 1,024 electrodes connected to 64 wires, thinner than a human hair.

O first Link implant in humans was performed in January on a 29-year-old young man, Noland Arbaugh, on whom the first study on Link security focuses. The company has provided periodic information about the research and reactions of the patient, who is enthusiastic about the results and autonomy that you can now have when using electronic devices.

“Link helped me reconnect with the world, my friends and my family. He gave me the ability to do things alone again, without needing my family at all hours of the day and night”, says the young quadriplegic, quoted in the Neuralink note.

Noland is using Link about 8 hours a day on weekdays and 10 hours a day during the weekend. Half of this time is spent in structured sessions to refine the model and collect data for the study. The rest at leisure.

In the publication, the Neuralink explains that, in addition to improving the functions that Link already provides, In the future, he intends to extend these functionalities to the physical worldin order to allow the control of robotic arms, wheelchairs and other technologies that can help increase the independence of people living with tetraplagia.

For now, the study patient has been using Link to control laptop from various positions, including while lying in bed. Play online with friends (Chess, Civilization VI), surf the Internet, broadcasts live It is use other applications on your MacBook, controlling a cursor with the mind. He has also used Link to play Mario Kart on a Nintendo Switch console, something he has not been able to do since his spinal cord injury, Neuralink says.