A quadriplegic patient who underwent Neuralink's brain implant surgery was able to play games such as Mario Kart just by thinking about them 100 days after surgery
Neuralink, a brain implant company founded by Elon Musk, conducted its first human clinical trial in January 2024. The 100-day postoperative report of Noland Arbour, who underwent brain implant surgery in this clinical trial, was released on Wednesday, May 8, 2024.
PRIME Study Progress Update — User Experience | Blog | Neuralink
Neuralink is a company developing a brain computing interface (BCI) that receives neural signals and transmits them wirelessly outside the body. It aims to restore independence and improve the lives of paralyzed patients by implanting devices in their brains.
In January 2024, Arber underwent surgery to implant the BCI 'Link' developed by Neuralink into his brain. The surgery was successful , and Arber returned home the day after the surgery. In March 2024, a movie was released in which Arber 'operates a PC and plays chess just by thinking.'
A movie of a paralyzed man who underwent Neuralink's human clinical trial 'operating a PC and playing chess just by thinking' is released - GIGAZINE
According to Neuralink's report, in addition to chess, Arbor can also play games such as 'Civilization VI' and 'Slay the Spire', as well as browse websites and live streams. In addition, you can play Mario Kart using the Nintendo Switch. On the right side of the movie below is a video of Arbor playing Mario Kart, showing that you can run along the course and use items.
P1 Plays Mario Kart - YouTube
Below is a graph summarizing the time Arber used Link. The blue bars show the time spent on research with Neuralink, and the orange bars show the time spent for personal use. Arber used Link for a total of 69 hours in one week, of which 35 hours were for research use and 34 hours for personal use. Regarding the experience of using Link, Arber said, 'Until now, I had to get someone to help me adjust my posture. Link is comfortable because I can use it while lying in bed. I don't need someone to help me all day, and I can now live my life on my own time.'
There is a unit called bits per second (BPS) that indicates the speed of cursor control using BCI. In his first research session after implanting Link, Arbour set a world record among BCI users at 4.6 BPS. After that, his cursor control speed improved to 8.0 BPS, but then dropped sharply. According to Neuralink, the reason for the drop in BPS is that 'a large number of threads were pulled away from the brain within a few weeks of surgery.' Link distributes 1,024 electrodes across 64 threads to read signals, so it seems that several electrodes became unusable.
Neuralink has succeeded in improving the BPS again by modifying the algorithm to increase the sensitivity of neural signals and improving the technology that converts the signals into cursor movement. Neuralink will continue to improve the system and aim to raise Arbour's BPS to the same level as a normal person. For reference, Neuralink engineers have achieved a BPS of about 10 BPS with a mouse.
Neuralink also aims to realize functions such as 'text input' and 'control of robotic arms and wheelchairs' in the future.
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