Neuralink, Elon’s ambitious brain-computer interface company, second patient success. This development comes with both encouraging progress and notable adjustments to the organization’s strategy.
Neuralink’s initial patient, Noland Arbaugh, had an impressive 1,024 electrodes implanted. However, approximately a month later, around 85% of these electrodes experienced significant displacement. This setback led the company to modify its signal recording algorithms, ultimately achieving better information transmission performance with just 15% of the electrodes, or roughly 150, in optimal condition.
For its second patient, Neuralink has scaled back the electrode count significantly, opting for just over 400 active electrodes. This reduction in scale represents a strategic shift, perhaps aimed at improving the stability and longevity of the implant.
Neuralink has made several updates to its implantation procedure, including:
- Inserting threads nearly twice as deep (up to 8 mm) to enhance long-term anchoring.
- Implementing measures to reduce brain expansion and contraction during surgery.
- Moderately sculpting the skull surface to minimize the gap between the implant and cortex.
These refinements suggest the company is closely examining the factors contributing to electrode displacement, in an effort to enhance the device’s stability and performance.
Elon’s oft-mentioned “Blindsight” product, which aims to restore vision for the blind, requires a significantly higher electrode count of approximately 16,000. Neuralink has achieved this scale with a custom-developed ASIC chip, but it remains to be seen when this technology will be ready for user implantation.
Neuralink’s ambitious long-term goal is to implant 1 million electrodes, a feat that would provide superhuman information transmission bandwidth. This level of connectivity could enable the perception of a wide range of wavelengths and resolution far exceeding that of the human eye.
Noland Arbaugh, Neuralink’s first patient, is already operating a computer at double the speed of other brain-computer interfaces, with a performance of around 10 bits per second, close to using a mouse by hand.
However, the company’s ability to meet its target of 10 implantations this year appears to be under considerable pressure. The challenges surrounding electrode displacement and the need to refine the implantation process suggest that Neuralink may face more hurdles than anticipated in scaling its technology.
Success of its second implant and the company’s ability to overcome the limitations of the first will be crucial in determining the viability and timeline of its ambitious neurological goals.