Second Neuralink patient cancelled ahead of brain chip surgery over medical issues

A week after Neuralink's first brain chip patient appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the company has reportedly canceled the surgery for its second patient following the discovery of medical issues that led to the unsuitability of the patient entering the trial.

2

A new report from Bloomberg has revealed the candidate Neuralink had teed up for its second brain-computer interface (BCI) surgery suffered from neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal motor neuron disease that causes progression degeneration of nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain.

Unfortunately, the second patient experienced unnamed medical issues that made them unsuitable for the trial. They will be replaced by another patient who is scheduled to undergo surgery next month. Neuralink hasn't officially mentioned the patient's cancellation or responded to Bloomberg's questions about it.

While appearing like a setback in its human trial stage of development, Neuralink has significantly improved the quality of life of its first BCI patient, 29-year-old Nolan Arbaugh, who appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience to discuss his new control over a mouse cursor using his thoughts. Arbaugh said the BCI implant is capable of monitoring the electrical signals fired by neurons and converting them into cursor movements. Arbaugh explained he is able to play video games, and believes he now has "aimbot" as the cursor moves so quickly that it sometimes moves before he "thinks" it too.

• Read more: First Neuralink patient says gaming is easy now because he's got 'aimbot'