According to a Wall Street Journal story published on Monday, the US Food and Drug Administration has given billionaire Elon Musk’s Neuralink business permission to implant its brain chip in a second person after the company provided solutions for an issue that came up in the first patient.
According to Reuters last week, which cited persons with knowledge of the situation, Neuralink revealed that the Elon Musk business has been aware of the problem for years, as evidenced by the small wires within the first patient’s brain that had come loose.
According to a document the WSJ saw and a source familiar with the firm, the company plans to address the issue by implanting part of the device’s cables deeper into the brain.
A request for comment from Reuters was not immediately answered by Neuralink or the FDA.
Earlier this year, Neuralink successfully implanted a wireless brain chip in a human being. Musk made the significant announcement on January 29 through a series of tweets on X (previously known as Twitter).
Neuralink has been developing brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that can be implanted. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave the business permission to commence human testing in May of last year. The neurotechnology company started recruiting for human trials in September 2023.
Musk said in February that the first person to get a Neuralink brain chip looked to be fully healed and was able to use their thoughts to operate a computer mouse.
In March, Neuralink broadcast live on Wednesday as its first chip-implanted patient used his thoughts to play chess online. After a diving accident left him paralyzed below the shoulder, 29-year-old patient Noland Arbaugh used the Neuralink gadget to move the cursor while playing chess on his laptop. The goal of the implant is to allow users to use just their thoughts to control a computer’s keyboard or mouse.
The business has a history of using animals in large-scale testing and has reported a high success rate. Although successfully implanting a brain chip is a significant accomplishment, the product’s long-term viability and absence of adverse effects will decide its success.
