Neuralink Successfully Implants Brain Chip in Second Patient

Illustration of chip installation in the patient's brain (photo: dock. Neuralink)

JAKARTA – After successfully implanting a brain chip in the first patient, Neuralink has re-installed its device in the brain of the second patient. Reportedly, the brain chip installation in the second patient was successful.

Elon Musk, the owner of the neurotechnology company, said that the second patient had almost the same disease as the first patient. This patient suffered a spinal injury that caused paralysis.

Each time Neuralink implants a patient's brain, it uses 1,024 electrodes. Of the many electrodes that were channeled, only 400 electrodes functioned in the second patient. However, this implant is claimed to be working well.

"I don't want to jinx it, but it seems like the second implant is working very well," Musk said in a recent podcast, quoted from Reuters. "There are lots of signals, lots of electrodes. Everything is going very well."

Musk did not explain when they implanted the patient. The billionaire only revealed the target that Neuralink wants to achieve this year. The hope is that Neuralink can implant eight patients as part of a clinical trial.

The implant in the first patient, Noland Arbaugh, walked without any problems, even successfully. Neuralink had time to show Arbaugh's ability after installing the chip in his brain and the patient was able to control the computer.

In an interview, Arbaugh said that he became more independent and less dependent on caregivers after the implant was done. The chip in the brain and the stick in Arbaugh's mouth helped him control the computer.

Although this implant had some problems, such as the small implant cable being pulled, Arbaugh was still able to control the computer. This problem has also been resolved and the electrodes on the implant have been monitoring Arbaugh's brain signals again.