“One Hundred Days of Success”. That’s how he defines them Elon Musk, referring to the experience of “patient zero” Noland. Neuralink, the tycoon’s company that deals with brain-computer interfaces, has just posted on X a report about him and the progress of the first human implantation of a chip developed by the company’s researchers.
The scientists’ goal was 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 was enrolled and followed, Noland Arbaughis called Prime and aims to demonstrate that “Link” – this is the name of the system – it is “safe and useful in daily life”, explain the creators. “We will monitor its technical performance remotely and quantify any benefit provided by timing the duration of independent use and evaluating how it affects participants’ quality of life,” they point out from Neuralink.
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The first 100 days with the chip
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? In the update, Noland himself explains it, who describes himself as reborn: the system, he explains, “allows me to live according to my times, without needing to have someone” to 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”.
“I played video games”
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 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.”
He uses it for more than 10 hours a day
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.”
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Changed the recording algorithm
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 neural population signals, improved techniques for translating these signals into cursor movements, and improved the user interface. These adjustments have produced a rapid and sustained improvement in BPS, which has now exceeded Noland’s initial performance.”