A woman who has been paralyzed from the neck down for nearly 20 years has regained the ability to interact with a computer using only her thoughts, in what Neuralink has described as a world-first achievement.
Audrey Crews, a Louisiana resident, became the first female patient to receive Neuralink’s brain-computer interface (BCI) implant, which enables users to control electronic devices with their mind.
Crews, who suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident at the age of 16, has been a quadriplegic since 2005.
The accident caused significant damage to her C4 and C5 vertebrae, leaving her without sensation or mobility in her arms and legs.
This month, she underwent a surgical procedure at the University of Miami Health Center, where a small device known as the N1 implant was inserted into her brain’s motor cortex.
The operation required surgeons to drill a hole in her skull in order to implant the chip and its 128 threads, which are thinner than a human hair.
These threads contain over 1,000 electrodes designed to detect the electrical signals that neurons produce when a person thinks about movement.
Each of these “neuron spikes” is unique and is translated by Neuralink’s software into