The Top Five Things You Should Know About Neuralink's Brain Implant
As we dive into the world of neural implants, it's essential to understand what Neuralink is trying to achieve with its technology. In this article, we'll explore the top five things you should know about Neuralink's brain implant, and how it works.
Number Five: Why Bother with a Brain Implant at All?
Neuralink's brain implant is designed to track spikes, also known as action potentials, which are electrical impulses that occur when neurons send information. This technology allows for real-time data collection from the brain, which can be incredibly valuable in various fields such as medicine and neurology. However, it's worth noting that implants aren't new; Neuralink has a history of implanting devices dating back to 1957. So, why is Neuralink trying again? The answer lies in advancements in technology and our growing understanding of the brain.
Number Four: How Does One Implant Something in a Brain?
To read spikes from the brain, Neuralink needs an implant that can detect these electrical impulses. This requires a device that's small enough to be implanted into the brain, yet powerful enough to process complex signals. To achieve this, Neuralink has developed a surgical robot that deals with the complexity of surgery such as subject movement due to breathing. The robot is under the supervision of a surgeon and uses electrode threads for implantation. In tests, Neuralink demonstrated an impressive 87% success rate over 19 surgeries.
Number Three: Does This Thing Work?
To validate its technology, Neuralink tested it on Long Evans rats. These tiny creatures are commonly used in experiments starting at around $23 per rat. The results were promising, as the brain implant was able to digitize broadband signals and process them in real-time using an online detection algorithm with robot-assisted surgery. Moreover, Neuralink claims that this technology can be implanted while minimizing bleeding and reducing the risk of harming cortical vessels.
Number Two: How Would This Work on Humans?
For humans, traditional brain surgery is the norm. However, Neuralink wants to make a change. They liken their procedure to LASIK, suggesting that it would be short, with no big scars or hospital stays. The process involves making a small opening in the skin and then painlessly opening the skull below. A quick placement of the implant followed by filling the hole with sensors is completed before closing up the scalp behind the ear. This final step involves making a small incision for a coil, which surgeons will connect to the sensors using tiny wires.
Number One: What's the Point of This Brain Implant?
Neuralink's first product focuses on control. Patients want the ability to control their mobile devices without any caretaker assistance. Once that control is possible through the implant, phone outputs could be redirected to computers as mouse and keyboard inputs. To learn how to use this Neuralink implant in conjunction with other devices, there's an app designed for patience and teaching new skills such as touch typing or playing piano. According to the paper, this approach could conceivably restore motor function in the future.
In conclusion, Neuralink's brain implant is a cutting-edge technology that has the potential to revolutionize various fields by allowing real-time data collection from the brain. By understanding how it works and what its capabilities are, we can appreciate the complexity and innovation involved in this technology.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthese are the top five things you should know about the neural link brain implant if you're watching this you probably know something about the brain implant already but there was a lot of information in neural links livestream and the related scientific paper entitled an integrated brain machine interface platform with thousands of channels I'm going to give you the top five things you should know about neural links tech how do we rank such things by logical order each item will build upon the other to give you a better idea of what neural link is trying to do and number five why bother with a brain implant at all the implant is trying to track spikes also known as action potentials essentially an action potential is an electrical impulse a spike happens when the neuron sends information neural links brain machine interface or BMI can track the spikes in real time there is no wearable that can track the spikes because you need to be under 60 microns away from the neuron for tracking implants are not a new thing neural link also showed a history of implants dating back to 1957 so why does newer link want to implant tech in a brain to get real-time data from neurons as they fire number four how does one implant something in a brain to read spikes anyway take a look at these other implants technologies one is called the Utah array the other is the deep brain stimulator they are very invasive a take a look at neural links in one sensor it's tiny here it is on a finger and here it is next to a penny back to our question how does one implant something so tiny build a robot this is a surgical robot it deals with the complexity of the surgery such as the subject moving due to breathing the robot is under the supervision of a surgeon as electrode threads are implanted in tests neural link demonstrated an average of 87 point 1 plus or minus 12 point six percent insertion success rates over 19 surgeries number three does this thing work take a look at this cute little critter it's called a long Evans rat two colors oh well you can buy them for experiments starting at around two twenty three dollars per rat so neuro-link tested its systems in mail long evans rats recordings were made as the rats freely explored an arena paper says quote digitize broadband signals were processed in real time to identify action potentials spikes using an online detection algorithm with the robot assisted surgery neural link says it implanted this tech while minimizing bleeding and reducing the risk of harming cortical vessels so the implant is definitely capable of reading neural signals number two how would this work on a human it's thinking hey wait a minute I'm not a long Evans rat how does this work on humans give me the details on what happens to a person now normally here's how traditional brain surgery goes your head may be clamped in place plus your head may be shaved with scarring being a possibility neural Inc says they want to arrive to something different they likened it to LASIK no big scars no hospital stays it would be a short procedure and you get to keep all your hair neural link also says for its first clinical trials the traditional method or something close to it will likely be used here's how the procedure would go after all the trials you get a local anesthetic a small opening is made in the skin a painless opening is then made in the skull below after that there's a quick placement of the implant then the hole in the skull is filled with the sensor the scalp is finally closed up then behind the ear a small incision is made for a coil the surgeons will tunnel tiny wires to connect the coil to the sensors in tests total insertion time averaged 45 minutes the number one thing you should know about the neural link brain implant is what the heck will this do the first product is focused on control patients wanted the ability to control a mobile device no caretaker necessary once that control is possible through the implant the phone output could also be redirected to a computer as mouse and keyboard inputs to learn how to use the neural link implant in conjunction with other devices neuro-link has an app to teach patience in an example neural link says imagine if you never had arms and you had to pick something off a table you will use the app to connect the brain activity to the movement you want to accomplish knurling says it's a long process preparing it to learning how to touch type or play piano the paper went on to say quote in the future this approach could conceivably restore motor function that's amazing neural link set 2020 has an aspirational date for the first in human clinical study what do you think about this whole brain implant thing do you think neural link can make its vision come true let us know in the comments oh my as that time I'll see you onlinethese are the top five things you should know about the neural link brain implant if you're watching this you probably know something about the brain implant already but there was a lot of information in neural links livestream and the related scientific paper entitled an integrated brain machine interface platform with thousands of channels I'm going to give you the top five things you should know about neural links tech how do we rank such things by logical order each item will build upon the other to give you a better idea of what neural link is trying to do and number five why bother with a brain implant at all the implant is trying to track spikes also known as action potentials essentially an action potential is an electrical impulse a spike happens when the neuron sends information neural links brain machine interface or BMI can track the spikes in real time there is no wearable that can track the spikes because you need to be under 60 microns away from the neuron for tracking implants are not a new thing neural link also showed a history of implants dating back to 1957 so why does newer link want to implant tech in a brain to get real-time data from neurons as they fire number four how does one implant something in a brain to read spikes anyway take a look at these other implants technologies one is called the Utah array the other is the deep brain stimulator they are very invasive a take a look at neural links in one sensor it's tiny here it is on a finger and here it is next to a penny back to our question how does one implant something so tiny build a robot this is a surgical robot it deals with the complexity of the surgery such as the subject moving due to breathing the robot is under the supervision of a surgeon as electrode threads are implanted in tests neural link demonstrated an average of 87 point 1 plus or minus 12 point six percent insertion success rates over 19 surgeries number three does this thing work take a look at this cute little critter it's called a long Evans rat two colors oh well you can buy them for experiments starting at around two twenty three dollars per rat so neuro-link tested its systems in mail long evans rats recordings were made as the rats freely explored an arena paper says quote digitize broadband signals were processed in real time to identify action potentials spikes using an online detection algorithm with the robot assisted surgery neural link says it implanted this tech while minimizing bleeding and reducing the risk of harming cortical vessels so the implant is definitely capable of reading neural signals number two how would this work on a human it's thinking hey wait a minute I'm not a long Evans rat how does this work on humans give me the details on what happens to a person now normally here's how traditional brain surgery goes your head may be clamped in place plus your head may be shaved with scarring being a possibility neural Inc says they want to arrive to something different they likened it to LASIK no big scars no hospital stays it would be a short procedure and you get to keep all your hair neural link also says for its first clinical trials the traditional method or something close to it will likely be used here's how the procedure would go after all the trials you get a local anesthetic a small opening is made in the skin a painless opening is then made in the skull below after that there's a quick placement of the implant then the hole in the skull is filled with the sensor the scalp is finally closed up then behind the ear a small incision is made for a coil the surgeons will tunnel tiny wires to connect the coil to the sensors in tests total insertion time averaged 45 minutes the number one thing you should know about the neural link brain implant is what the heck will this do the first product is focused on control patients wanted the ability to control a mobile device no caretaker necessary once that control is possible through the implant the phone output could also be redirected to a computer as mouse and keyboard inputs to learn how to use the neural link implant in conjunction with other devices neuro-link has an app to teach patience in an example neural link says imagine if you never had arms and you had to pick something off a table you will use the app to connect the brain activity to the movement you want to accomplish knurling says it's a long process preparing it to learning how to touch type or play piano the paper went on to say quote in the future this approach could conceivably restore motor function that's amazing neural link set 2020 has an aspirational date for the first in human clinical study what do you think about this whole brain implant thing do you think neural link can make its vision come true let us know in the comments oh my as that time I'll see you online\n"
