A Vancouver police sergeant has become the first Canadian ALS patient to receive the Neuralink brain implant, as well as the first to undergo a new neurosurgery technique to insert the device.
The news: On May 20, police sergeant Lee Marten underwent an experimental surgery at the University Health Network’s Toronto Western Hospital, becoming the first Canadian ALS patient to receive a Neuralink brain implant, according to a post by the Vancouver Police Department’s Chief Constable Steve Rai on X. Two other Canadians have received the implant to help with their quadriplegia.
The disease left Marten with just enough mobility to operate his electric wheelchair with his hands, according to CBC News. Now the 26th patient to receive a Neuralink, the device allows him to control a phone or laptop using only his thoughts.
From the source: “Getting a terminal diagnosis, you don’t have much to look forward to,” Marten told CBC News. “This is going to maybe improve my time that I have left, and allow me to be a kind of trailblazer for anyone else going through this.”
Following the thread: Since Neuralink’s thousands of electrode threads are too fine for a human surgeon’s hand, the implant is inserted into the brain by an experimental surgical robot.
In addition to becoming the first Canadian ALS patient with the device, Marten’s surgery was novel because it was the first to use a new technique in which the device’s strands are inserted through the outer protective layer of the brain known as the dura, rather than cutting it open and placing the strands directly in the brain.
According to Neuralink, this removes one of the most delicate manual steps out of the procedure and potentially means a safer, more repeatable surgery that could get the device into more heads in the future.
Final thought: Marten’s procedure is part of a four-year clinical trial evaluating the safety and functionality of Neuralink, which is owned by controversial billionaire Elon Musk. Toronto Western Hospital performed the first Neuralink implant surgery outside of the United States last year. Now it’s executed “the most cutting-edge version of this surgery” to date, according to Dr Matthew MacDougall, Neuralink’s head of neurosurgery.
Feature image courtesy Chief Constable Steve Rai via X.