Latest news with #medicaljourney
CTV News
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
‘Pure joy': Winnipeg child with rare neuromuscular disease granted Disney World wish
8-year-old Braelynn and her mom Maylia Bodman share how a magical trip to a Florida theme park brought joy and hope amid a tough medical journey.
Fox News
5 days ago
- Health
- Fox News
Neuralink brain implant helps Arizona man regain control of his life
Elon Musk's Neuralink brain implants are designed to help individuals with disabilities — and the implant's first user told Fox News on Friday about the revolutionary technology. Arizona native Noland Arbaugh, the first Neuralink brain implant patient, joined "The Will Cain Show" to discuss how the device has helped him regain control of his life. "I'm just beyond grateful," Arbaugh told Fox News host Will Cain. "It's an incredible privilege to be a part of this." "To have someone like Elon Musk — one of the most powerful men in the world, so involved, so interested in affecting my life and people with disabilities right now — I can't even put it into words," he continued. He also thanked the Neuralink employees for supporting him on his medical journey. "They are the hardest workers that I've ever met in my life, and they have such a passion for helping people," he said. In 2016, Arbaugh was involved in a swimming accident, leaving him paralyzed from the shoulders down. Facing the rest of his life with significantly reduced mobility, he remarked on how limited his life felt before receiving the Neuralink implant. "I just wasn't really doing much," Arbaugh said. "I wasn't getting out of my house, I wasn't being able to communicate with the world." "After Neuralink, I feel like I have a purpose," he added. "I just want to become a functioning member of society… It's been an incredible journey, and I am incredibly grateful." The Neuralink brain implant is a "fully implantable, cosmetically invisible, wireless brain-computer interface (BCI) designed to restore autonomy to people with paralysis. It enables users to operate their phones and computers with just their thoughts," a capability Neuralink calls "Telepathy," according to its website. "It's all through my motor cortex and my brain, and all those neurons firing with machine learning and AI," Arbaugh said. "It syncs up, and that's how I control the computer." Arbaugh added that it took some time for him to learn how to successfully use the implant, but he is excited about the potential of the device. "There is a learning curve, if you will," he said. "You calibrate the implant, so you do certain things, do certain actions, think certain things — over time, the algorithm will learn your intentions and give you control." Arbaugh said he looks forward to the next chapter in his life now that he has more autonomy than he ever did since becoming quadriplegic, but he won't forget how Musk and Neuralink helped him regain that confidence. "They have changed my life in ways that they may never fully understand," he said. "I don't think I could ever thank them enough for all that they've done for me."
