“One hundred days of success”. That’s how he defines them Elon Muskreferring to theNoland’s ‘patient zero’ experience. Neuralink, the tycoon’s company that deals with brain-computer interfaces, has just posted a report on him and the progress of the first implantation in a human of a chip developed by the company’s researchers.
The scientists’ aim “to provide a high-performance interface that will improve control of digital devices for people with tetraplegia, unlocking their personal and professional potential.” In other words, give them back their autonomy. The study in which the first patient, Noland Arbaugh, was enrolled and followed, is called Prime and aims to demonstrate that ‘Link’ – this is the name of the implant – is “safe and useful in daily life. We will monitor its technical performance from remote and we will quantify any benefit provided by timing the duration of independent use and evaluating how it affects participants’ quality of life”, they explain from Neuralink.
What do these first 100 days tell us since the 29-year-old underwent the chip insertion surgery at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix? Noland himself explains it in the update: the system, he says, “allows me to live at my own pace, without needing to have someone” dictate them. Previously the patient used a tablet stick that had to be placed in his mouth by a healthcare professional. “This instrument – explain the experts – can only be used in a vertical position and with prolonged use it can cause discomfort, muscle fatigue, bedsores; it also prevents normal speech”.
Having the chip is like an overload, “a luxury overload – is Noland’s story again – I couldn’t do “some activities” for 8 years. The most comfortable thing is that I can lie down in my bed and use it”. The chip “helped me reconnect with the world, with my friends and family. It gave me the ability to do things on my own again, without needing” others “at all hours of the day and night” . In the weeks following the surgery, Noland used the Link to control his laptop from various locations. He played online video games with friends (chess and others), surfed the Internet, live-streamed, and used other applications, all while controlling a cursor with his mind. He even used the system to “play Mario Kart on a console,” something he “hadn’t been able to do since his spinal cord injury.”
On weekdays, Noland contributes to research sessions for up to 8 hours per day. On weekends, personal and recreational use may exceed 10 hours per day. He recently used the device for a total of 69 hours in just one week: 35 hours of structured sessions and an additional 34 hours of personal use. The sessions allow you to evaluate the performance of the Link. The higher the values measured in bits per second (Bps) the better the cursor control. During the first session, experts say, “Noland set a new world record for cursor control” with a brain-computer interface, “of 4.6 Bps. He subsequently achieved 8 Bps and is currently trying to beat the Neuralink engineers’ scores using a mouse.”
The researchers also had to adapt a few things. In the weeks following the surgery, some wires” of the chip “withdrew from the brain, resulting in a clear decrease in the number of effective electrodes – they say – This led to a reduction in Bps values. In response to this change, we modified the recording algorithm to be more sensitive to signals from the neural population, improved techniques for translating these signals into cursor movements, and improved the user interface. These improvements have produced a rapid and sustained improvement in BPS, which has now exceeded Noland’s initial performance.”
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