This small and easy to install brain computer interface chip could be used to expand the capabilities of humans changing the way how we interact with daily life technology and much more mind-blowing things, to be precise and simple actually Neuralink is a technology that can help humans interact with electronic machines using their brains directly communicating to the specified recipients by wireless comms. Mind Blown? Keep it together and Let’s dig into the biotech world.
By Aroosa Younis
Every human dream of getting things around him/her done by just a simple wink of an eye just as some supernatural power which sounds pretty silly and fictious but… one day your dream of having super human vision or playing your favorite albums in your head directly or even downloading your brain’s data to a computer or to another source of storage won’t be just a dream anymore! Even though this might sound like some science fiction movie but the worldwide well-known Entrepreneur and the CEO of multi- tech companies (including Space X and Tesla), Elon musk and his team at the Neural Tech startup Neuralink believe that their ELECTRONIC BRAIN COMPUTER INTERFACE can make this fiction a reality. Described by Musk himself as “fitted into your brain with microscopic wires which are tiny than a single strand of human hair a FITBIT in your skull”. Imagine an integrated computer inside your body! Which will not only control functions of your body but also interact will all those electronic devices you are surrounded with, sounds crazy enough doesn’t it?
As we know our brain is made up of billions of tiny cells called neurons with long spindle arms that send messages in the form of electrical sparks, these sparks (in electricity) travel between neurons (brain cells) in chain (electro-chemical) reactions carrying different messages to the parts of our brain and the part of body associated with it. Such as speech or movement. When you move your arm that action started as an electrical spark up in the brain which is just a small negligible act that you won’t even notice in that busy life of yours but believe me there is a long process behind lifting that hand up which comprises of several chemical and electrical reactions from our brain to it.
According to Neuralink your brain cells are kind of electrical wiring and rather than just having neurons sending electrical signals why not control those signals with the help of a tiny computer implanted in your brain basically those signals could be sent and received by a chip “an implantable brain chip”. Namely “The Link v.0.9” is a brain computer interface designed to be implanted directly into the brain by surgical robot with general anesthesia. This chip plugs in to your brain directly by tiny microscopic threads about 1/20 of the width of human hair and they connect with the neurons of your brain to receive and send electrical signals, without damaging your brain in any way.
How it works?
our brain sends information to different parts of the body using neurons. Neurons in your brain connect with each other to form a network and communicate using CHEMICAL SIGNALS called “Neuro transmitters” this reaction generates electric field which can be detected by simply placing an electrode nearby and you can record these reactions. the electrodes translate these signals into an algorithm which a computer can read.
Uses
Conditions like Anxiety, Depression (which is a serious matter in need of proper consultancy) Addiction to drugs, cure paralysis, and mental illness, cure blindness etc. can be treated in real time and off course more basic ideas like super human vision, the ability to see ultraviolet and rewinding or storing a memory from your brain.
More over operating robots with your thoughts! Streaming information directly into the user’s brain, extend the range of human hearing beyond the normal audible frequency range, store a huge amount of information from our brain into a computer and much more, and it might also be able to cure mobility issues caused by the misfunctioning neurons of the brain. Neuralink will be a breakthrough in the field of Medical Sciences.
The company’s eventual aim is to further develop brain computer interfaces to the point where one could be installed in a regular surgeon’s ward. (Let’s say you opted to go in for a Neuralink implant) Neuralink wants to make the installation of your brain computer chip interface painless and quick, AS EASY AS LASER EYE SURGERY.
The chip’s design has changes significantly resembling a small coin like shape with wires like strands of hair. To install a tiny piece of skull is removed just about the size of a coin and the chip is then installed with the help of a specific robot made for this procedure. The entire process could take less than an hour while you are under partial Anesthesia. The device (chip will include all the sensors one could expect in a smart watch or a smart phone) once installed the device will be able to send and receive electrical signals through your brain and use these to control machines in its early stages allowing control of basic devices like a computer and other smart devices but gradually it could be used to do lots of more interesting and helpful things. The chip has all day battery life with wireless charging and is designed to wirelessly connect to your phone by Bluetooth
In 2020 Neuralink demonstrated the device installation in a pig this demo showed that the living animal could function normally after having one chip implanted and then removed. Musk’s neuralink has now received a breakthrough device designation from the FDA (Food & Drug Authority United States) in July 2020 which is a major step towards eventually mass-producing these devices. Who knows! maybe Neuralink will allow us to achieve a symbiosis with Artificial Intelligence which seems to be the future of technology… would you get a Neuralink implant?
References:
- “Linking brains to computers: How new implants are helping us achieve this goal.”
By Yunlong Zhao
Lecturer in Energy Storage and Bioelectronics, University of Surrey
- “Neuralink put a chip in Gertrude the pig’s brain.”
PhD candidate (Cognitive Neuroscience/ Neuro-engineering), The University of Queensland
- “Melding mind and machine: How close are we?”
By James Wu
Ph.D. Student in Bioengineering, Researcher at the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering, University of Washington
- “An integrated brain-machine interface platform with thousands of channels.”
Elon Musk, Neuralink. https://doi.org/10.1101/703801
Article made available under CC-BY-ND 4.0 International license posted August 2, 2019.
- Elon Musk Debuts How Neuralink Device Works in Real-Time
By Brad Bergan
Article Published August 28, 2020 on https://interestingengineering.com/
Senior editor at Interesting Engineering. University of Iowa