Despite challenges with the first patient, Musk predicts the next Neuralink brain implant will be released soon.

• Elon Musk announced during a livestream on Wednesday that Neuralink plans to implant its second human patient in "the near future."
• Neuralink is developing a brain-computer interface (BCI) that enables paralyzed patients to control technology using their minds.
• The company's first human patient received an implant this winter, but executives stated on Wednesday that only approximately 15% of its channels are functioning.
• Neuralink executives stated that they are implementing modifications to prevent future occurrences of the issues.

Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain tech startup, aims to implant its system in a second human patient in the near future, with executives stating that they are making modifications to address the hardware issues experienced with the first participant.

Neuralink is developing a brain-computer interface (BCI) called Telepathy, which involves 64 threads inserted directly into the brain to record neural signals through 1,024 electrodes.

While BCI technology has been researched in academia for many years, several companies such as Synchron, Paradromics, and Precision Neuroscience are currently developing their own systems. However, no BCI company has yet obtained approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market their devices.

Neuralink executives announced on Wednesday that the company aims to implant its device in a "high single digits" of patients this year. However, the exact date, location, and FDA approval for these procedures are not yet clear.

Spokespeople for Neuralink and the FDA were not immediately available for comment.

In January, Neuralink implanted its BCI in its first human patient, 29-year-old Noland Arbaugh, at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. The surgery was reported to have gone "extremely well" in an April blog post by Neuralink.

In the weeks after the procedure, Neuralink reported that some threads from the implant had retracted from Arbaugh's brain. Despite this, the company did not remove the implant, as it did not pose a direct risk to Arbaugh's safety, according to The Wall Street Journal.

During Wednesday's livestream, Musk and Neuralink executives revealed that only about 15% of the channels in Arbaugh's implant are operational. Despite this, he uses the BCI to watch videos, read, and play chess and other video games for up to 70 hours per week.

To reduce retraction and measure it more accurately, Neuralink's President DJ Seo stated that the company is working on sculpting the skull surface and inserting threads deeper into the brain tissue.

Dr. Matthew MacDougall, head of neurosurgery at Neuralink, stated that since retraction is a possibility, they will insert at different depths.