Brain implant malfunctions may shatter Musk's Neuralink dream

Months after achieving a breakthrough in neurotechnology, Elon Musk’s Neuralink said the firm observed a malfunction in the brain implant as the threads retracted inside the organ of the 29-year-old patient.

In a blog post Wednesday, the California-based firm wrote that many threads have retracted from Noland Arbaugh’s brain, without specifying numbers, according to CNBC.

Elon Musk’s high-tech venture aims to cure paralysis in patients with the help of its brain-computer interface (BCI) helping the people to control external technology with their minds.

According to the Neuralink website post, the system is called the Link, which is capable of recording signals with the help of 1,024 electrodes across 64 "threads" that are thinner than human hair.

In January, the 2016-founded company experimented with its first implant in Arbaugh, and his video was also live-streamed in March in which he was observed playing chess with his BCI brain.

Neuralink said in April that the surgery went “extremely well.”

However, after meeting success, the company reported retraction of threads rendering fewer effective electrodes, which disrupted the company’s ability to determine Link’s speed and accuracy.

The post read: "Neuralink modified the recording algorithm, enhanced the user interface and worked to improve techniques for translating signals into cursor movements."

Moreover, Neuralink said he is using the company’s BCI system for around eight hours a day during the week, and often as many as 10 hours a day on the weekends.

Arbaugh said the Link is like a “luxury overload,” and it has helped him to "reconnect with the world," the post noted.