The Neuralink website on a laptop arranged in New York, US, on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. Elon Musk said that the first human patient has received a brain implant from his startup Neuralink Corp., a significant step forward for the company that aims to one day let humans control computers with their minds. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images
OAN’s Abril Elfi
3:52 PM – Monday, May 20, 2024
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared a second patient to get the Neuralink brain implant chip.
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According to a report released by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Monday, the United States health regulator has given Elon Musk the green light to insert the implant into a second individual after his company proposed to fix a problem that occurred with the first patient.
Neuralink reported earlier this month that its first patient’s tiny wire implants had become loose. According to sources cited by Reuters last week, the company was aware that the wires had the potential to retract based on its animal testing.
According to the report, the WSJ spoke to a person familiar with the company who explained that Neuralink plans to address the issue by implanting some of the device’s wires deeper into the brain.
Neuralink reportedly expects to operate on the second patient in June and 10 more people later this year. Reportedly, more than 1,000 people have signed up for the patient registry.
The company added that they aim to submit applications to regulators in Canada and Britain and will begin similar trials in the next coming months.
They said that the first patient to have the brain chip implanted was able to use their thoughts to control a computer mouse in February with “no ill effects.”
According to Neuralink, the study makes use of a robot to surgically implant a brain-computer interface device in a part of the brain that regulates the intention to move.
The FDA stated that it cannot discuss information related to any particular company’s human trial application or study related to it.
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