First ever Neuralink patient says approximately 85% of implant wires became detached in just weeks

The first-ever patient of Elon Musk's Neuralink device revealed the implant experienced a slight setback.

In January earlier this year, Noland Arbaugh became the first ever human patient of an implantable brain-computer interface designed by Neuralink - a company co-founded by Musk.

The implant - roughly the size of a quarter - features dozens of tiny electrodes which are implanted into the brain and work by relaying electrical signals from neurons - with neurons being nerve cells which send messages all over your body.

"Our brain-computer interface is fully implantable, cosmetically invisible, and designed to let you control a computer or mobile device anywhere you go," Neuralink explains.

And with Arbaugh having been left paralyzed from the neck down as a result of a swimming accident nearly 10 years ago, having a Neuralink device implanted into his brain has allowed him to experience hobbies such as gaming again - seeing his brain able to control a cursor and its movements.

And the 29-year-old has since opened up about how his experience of Neuralink has been so far - from what's gone well, to what hasn't quite worked as expected.

The device aims to allow someone to use a computer with just their brain. (Neuralink)

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal earlier this week, Arbaugh revealed '85 percent' of the device's electrodes slipped out of his brain sooner than Neuralink apparently predicted they would.

The company had expected his brain to somewhat shift around his skull and subsequently impact the electrodes, but Arbaugh says his brain ended up shifting three times the measure than the company anticipated.

To put this into context, the Neuralink implant has 64 microscopic threads and each thread contains 16 electrodes, which means around 870 out of 1024 electrodes in Arbaugh's implant stopped working as they should, with the New York Times reporting that the issue occurred within several weeks of the device being implanted.

Neuralink itself acknowledged the issue in an update posted to its website.

It noted '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'.

Noland Arbaugh is the first person to have the implant. (Noland Arbaugh)

Thankfully, instead of having to undergo surgery to replace the threads - which the team at Neuralink allegedly advised against anyway - the system was able to be adapted so that Arbaugh has control of the cursor again.

Although, he did need to learn a new method of clicking with it.

Neuralink added: "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."

And the 'refinements' actually led to an overall 'rapid and sustained improvement in BPS' that has since 'superseded Noland’s initial performance'.

Arbaugh adds the small setback doesn't take away how 'rewarding' his journey with the implant has been and his excitement for the future.

He tells the New York Times: "I want to show everyone how amazing this is. [...] I’m really excited to keep going."

UNILAD has contacted Neuralink for comment.

Topics: Elon Musk, Health, Science, Technology, US News