The past 100 days have shown incredible progress with the PRIME study from Neuralink [1] since the first implant was placed in a patient. This unprecedented trial is designed to investigate how advanced brain-computer interface (BCI) technology can improve the independence and overall quality of life among individuals diagnosed with quadriplegia.
An estimated 302,000 Americans live with this condition, and about 18,000 new cases are reported every year [2]. People with quadriplegia often face difficulties participating fully in the digital world, which leads to decreased independence, isolation, and financial hardship. Neuralink wants to change that with its high-performance BCI interface.
Noland Arbaugh became the first participant in the PRIME Study when he received his Neuralink implant at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. The implant, known as "Link," is a fully implanted wireless brain-computer interface that allows people with quadriplegia to control external devices through their thoughts, thus bringing them closer than ever before to gaining back some of their lost independence.
Before Noland received his Link from Neuralink, he had used a mouth-held tablet stylus as his primary digital interface, which required third-party assistance. Still, things have changed dramatically thanks to this little device. Now Noland lives through what can only be described as being nothing short of a revolution where everything digital becomes accessible with just one's mind powered by such instrumentality – controlling different positions on his laptop, playing online computer games together with friends, browsing internet sites or streaming live events even watching movies online among others using various applications available in Macbook through merely moving the cursor around by thought alone. That empowerment doesn't stop there either because it extends even up until when one plays the Mario Kart game on the Nintendo Switch console, which is something he missed doing ever since he suffered an injury to his spinal cord.
The study also looks at how well the link performs. One way of measuring this is through bits-per-second (BPS), a standard measure for speed and accuracy of cursor control using a grid task. Initially, there was a setback due to the retraction of several threads from the brain, causing a reduction in effective electrodes and a decrease in BPS; however, quick successive improvements in recording algorithm refinement, as well as signal translation and user interface, were made, which led to rapid, sustained improvement in BPS that surpassed Noland's initial performance.
By doing what it does, Neuralink opens up new possibilities for digital experience while shaping future assistive technologies, robotic applications, and mobility devices, thus aiming at dramatically increasing independence among people with quadriplegia. The point is not only about giving hope or enabling one to live life on one's own terms but rather inviting one into tomorrow—the Neuralink future.
The PRIME Study represents an essential milestone towards exploring and validating the potential of BCI technology for individuals living with quadriplegia. It has been exciting keeping engaged with other members of the Neuralink community as we continue our journey forward during this phase of research, during which more knowledge will be gained about these interfaces explicitly designed for people like myself who may never have thought possible otherwise.
[1] https://neuralink.com/blog/prime-study-progress-update-user-experience/
[2] https://www.christopherreeve.org/todays-care/paralysis-help-overview/stats-about-paralysis/