The first Neuralink implant in a human failed after multiple threads capturing neural activity retracted from the brain, the Elon Musk-backed business said on Wednesday.
The threads retracted in the weeks following the late January surgery that implanted the Neuralink hardware in 29-year-old Noland Arbaugh’s brain, according to the company’s blog post.
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This lowered the number of usable electrodes and Arbaugh’s (a quadriplegic) capacity to manipulate a computer cursor with his brain.
“In response to this change, we modified the recording algorithm to be more sensitive to neural population signals, improved the techniques to translate these signals into cursor movements, and enhanced the user interface,” Neuralink wrote on its blog.
The business stated that the changes resulted in a “rapid and sustained improvement” in bits per second, a measure of cursor control speed and accuracy, outperforming Arbaugh’s initial performance.
While the issue does not appear to be a threat to Arbaugh’s safety, Neuralink reportedly considered removing his implant, according to The Wall Street Journal.
According to the Journal, the business has also informed the FDA that it believes it has a remedy to the issue with Arbaugh’s implant.
The implant was installed just over a hundred days ago. In the blog article, the business praised Arbaugh’s ability to play online computer games, surf the internet, livestream, and use other programs “all by controlling a cursor with his mind.”
