He placed the Neuralink brain chip into the brain of another patient

Neuralink succeeded in implanting the brain chip into a person’s brain for the second time without any problems. The statement on the subject was made by Elon Musk to podcast host Lex Friedman. According to Reuters, no information was given about the location of the surgery and the name of the patient.

Musk said that 400 of the 1,024 electrodes placed in the second patient’s brain were working and said: “I don’t want to jinx it, but it seems to be going very well. There are too many signals, too many electrodes. “It works very well.”

The device allows patients with spinal cord injuries to play video games, use the internet and control electronic devices using only their thoughts. The company announced in May that it had “accepted applications for the second participant” in the trials following the approval of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Nolan Arbaugh, the first Neuralink implant patient, described the surgery as “very easy.” In a demo it organized, the company showed how Arbaugh could move the cursor on the laptop screen, pause the music device on the screen, and play chess and Civilization VI.

Arbaugh also appeared on Friedman’s podcast with Musk and said that the implant allows him to think about everything on a computer screen, thus reducing his dependence on caregivers.

However, problems arose shortly after his surgery when some of the electrodes were withdrawn from his brain. The problem was later partially corrected by changing the algorithm to make the implants more sensitive. Neuralink told the FDA that a second procedure would insert the implant’s threads deeper into the patient’s brain, preventing them from moving as much as they did in Arbaugh’s case.

Neuralink has more than 1000 volunteers

Neuralink has previously tested its implant in animals, including chimpanzees, and some of these testing practices have been the subject of federal investigations. Despite these problems, the company said it had more than 1,000 volunteers for its second surgical trial. Musk said he expects Neuralink to implant its chips into eight more patients by the end of 2024.