Elon Musk's Neuralink was preparing to implant a brain chip in a second patient, but due to his health condition, the planned procedure had to be postponed. This was stated by Michael Lawton, CEO of the Barrow Neurological Institute, writes Bloomberg.
Earlier this year, Neuralink performed an operation in which the chip was implanted in its first patient. He was paralyzed from the shoulders down due to an accident in 2016.
The implanted device allowed the man to play video games, browse the Internet and move the computer cursor on his laptop with his mind.
Despite some problems that arose after the first surgery, Neuralink was preparing to implant the chip in a second patient. He has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which causes degeneration of nerve cells in the spine and brain.
The surgery was scheduled to take place recently, but was canceled. According to Michael Lawton, the patient had health problems that made him an unsuitable candidate for the Neuralink study. Another candidate is likely to be operated on next month.
“Selecting the right patient for a trial like this is important,” he said. “Everybody involved, clinically and surgically, wants to get it right.”
Earlier it became known that Elon Musk's Neuralink intends to enroll three patients to test its brain chip. The trials are expected to last several years. It is expected that Neuralink will complete the study in 2026, and in 2031, a complete picture of the company's trials will be ready.