Human trial of Elon Musk's Neuralink hits snag as brain chip begins to detach

Elon Musk's Neuralink has faced a significant challenge with its first attempt to implant its chip in a human. On Wednesday (May 8) the company revealed that its device had started detaching from the patient's brain.

A brain implant

The patient, Noland Arbaugh, had the Neuralink chip surgically implanted in February, but issues cropped up shortly thereafter, reducing its functionality.

The Guardian reports that the miniature computer's threads were observed to be retracting from the brain.

"In the weeks following the surgery, a number of threads retracted from the brain, resulting in a net decrease in the number of effective electrodes," said the company in a blog post on its website.

Neuralink, as of now, has not disclosed why this happened. However, in the blog post, it reported that its engineers had refined the implant and restored functionality.

"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. These refinements produced a rapid and sustained improvement in BPS, that has now superseded Noland's initial performance," it said.

How did the reduced capacity affect the patient?

Despite the setback, the device continued to operate at a diminished capacity, allowing Arbaugh to control a computer and play chess using his thoughts alone. It did not appear to endanger Noland Arbaugh.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the complications, noted that the company considered removing the implant after discovering the detachment.

The experimental Neuralink technology involves embedding a processor and battery in the skull, which is connected to the brain via 64 thin threads. These threads interact with neural signals, allowing the user, in this case, a quadriplegic, to manipulate digital devices like keyboards or mouse cursors.

Arbaugh says that despite the challenges, the implant has significantly impacted his life.

"[The Link] has helped me reconnect with the world, my friends, and my family. It's given me the ability to do things on my own again without needing my family at all hours of the day and night," he said, as quoted in the Neuralink blog post.

(With inputs from agencies)