Elon Musk’s Neuralink has successfully implanted its brain implant into a new patient, making them the second person to potentially be given the ability to use digital devices through brain power alone by the company.
The second implantation of this brain-computer interface (BCI) device marks a significant step forward in the company’s clinical trial progress, which it began seeking patients for in May 2024.
The device is designed to enable users to interact with digital systems through thought alone, offering potential applications in various digital settings for people with spinal cord differences.
The first patient to receive the implant demonstrated capabilities such as playing video games, browsing the internet, posting on social media and controlling a cursor on a laptop – demonstrating the technology’s potential to improve quality of life.
According to Musk, the second patient, who also has a spinal cord injury, is currently benefiting from the device’s functionality – noting that 400 of the implant’s 1,024 electrodes are currently active. Speaking on Lex Fridman, Research Scientist, MIT’s podcast, he noted that the second implant appears to be performing well, commenting that “there’s a lot of signal, a lot of electrodes. It’s working very well”.
Neuralink aims to expand the clinical trial cohort to include eight additional patients before the year’s end. These advances highlight the growing intersection of neurology and digital therapeutics, opening up new avenues for treatment and patient care in the rehabilitation of people with neurological differences.
