US FDA clears Neuralink's brain chip implant in second patient

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval to Elon Musk's Neuralink to implant its brain chip in a second person.

This development is following the company's resolution of an issue that arose with the first patient, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

Reuters recently reported that Neuralink had disclosed an issue where tiny wires inside the brain of its first patient had pulled out of position, a problem the company has been aware of for years. In response, Neuralink proposed a solution involving the deeper embedding of some of the device's wires into the brain citing a person familiar with the matter and a document they had viewed.

Earlier this year, Neuralink achieved a significant milestone by implanting a wireless brain chip in a human for the first time. Elon Musk announced this development on January 29 through a series of posts on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Neuralink has been developing implantable brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). In May of last year, the company received FDA approval to conduct human trials. By September 2023, Neuralink began recruiting participants for its human trials.

In February, Musk revealed that the first human patient implanted with Neuralink's brain chip had fully recovered and could control a computer mouse using their thoughts.

In March, Neuralink livestreamed its first patient, Noland Arbaugh, using his mind to play online chess. Arbaugh, a 29-year-old who was paralyzed below the shoulder after a diving accident, used the Neuralink device to move the cursor on his laptop and play chess. The implant aims to enable people to control a computer cursor or keyboard solely with their thoughts.

Previously, Neuralink conducted extensive tests on animals, reporting a high success rate. While performing a successful brain chip implant in humans is a significant achievement, the long-term success of the product will depend on its performance and absence of side effects over time.