FDA approves Neuralink’s brain chip for second patient – after first person suffered life-threatening condition during surgery

Elon Musk’s Neuralink has been given a green light to implant its brain chip in a second patient after fixing issues that struck during the first human trial.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the next person on Monday, signing off on the company’s planned updates that included embedding some of the device’s ultrathin wires deeper into the brain.

Neuralink revealed this month that some of 64 threads detached from the first patient’s brain, causing the chip to malfunction – nearly ending the trial that began in January.

A report by Reuters cited ‘five people familiar with the matter’ had claimed that this issue had been ‘known about for years’ from animal testing.

This is a developing story… more updates to come. 

In January, Neuralink implanted a brain chip in its first patient, Noland Arbaugh, who is paralyzed from the shoulders down due to a 2016 diving accident