NEURALINK'S BRAIN CHIP ENCOUNTERS ISSUES POST SURGERY, SAYS ELON MUSK'S COMPANY

NEW DELHI: Elon Musk's brain technology startup Neuralink has said that the chip implanted in the brain of its first human patient Noland Arbaugh had some issues post-surgery.

Giving the details about the function of the chip post-surgery, the company in a blog post said that the amount of data it was receiving from the device has been reduced.

Neuralink said, "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. This led to a reduction in BPS. 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" These refinements produced a rapid and sustained improvement in BPS, that has now superseded Noland’s initial performance."

In a blog post, Neuralink said that in the weeks since Noland's surgery, he has used the link to control his laptop from various positions, including while lying down in bed.

Noland played online computer games with friends (Chess, Civilization VI), browses the internet, live streams, and uses other applications on his MacBook, all by controlling a cursor with his mind. He has even used the Link to play Mario Kart on a Nintendo Switch console — something he had not been able to do since his spinal cord injury.

"[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," Noland said.

Currently, the company's current work is focused on pushing cursor control performance to the same level as that of able-bodied individuals, and on expanding functionality to include text entry. In the future we intend to extend the Link’s functionality to the physical world to enable control of robotic arms, wheelchairs, and other technologies that may help increase independence for people living with quadriplegia.