Elon Musk presented a prototype of the Neuralink neurochip with the involvement of three pigs (2 photos + video)

Neuralink, founded by Elon Musk,held a planned presentation of a brain implant prototype. The event was hosted by Elon Musk, who stated in the first seconds of the presentation that the purpose of showing prototypes is not to attract investment, but to demonstrate success to attract highly professional specialists in the field of robotics, programming, microsurgery, materials science, engineering and the development of wearable electronics.

During the demo, an updateda neurochip the size of an ordinary coin. The chip diameter is 23 mm and the thickness is 8 mm. From the chip, there are 1,024 thin electrodes (last year shown a device with 3072 electrodes), which are implanted into the brain. The length of the electrodes is about 45 mm, and the working part, which is implanted into the cerebral cortex, will be about 4 mm. The thickness of the electrode wires is about 20 microns (one-fifth the thickness of a human hair).

The chip implantation process will be maximizedautomated using a robotic surgeon, also developed at Neuralink. Ultimately, the robot will perform all operations: drilling a hole in the skull, implanting electrodes that transmit and read the electrical signal of brain neurons, installing the chip flush with the plane of the skull (the average thickness of the skull bone is 10 mm), fixing the chip using special glue and covering the location of the implant with a part of the skin, preferably with hair.

The new chip will be completely invisible afterinstallation. Musk even joked that he may already have a Neuralink sensor installed. The processor will work in stand-alone mode, and recharge using wireless devices. A special application in a smartphone is used for control, and communication is carried out via an economical Bluetooth LE with low energy consumption and a range of up to 10 meters.

Three pigs took part in the performance. The first animal did not undergo any operations and was simply present as a reference. The second, named Gertrude, has been living with a Neuralink chip for two months. On her example, it was shown how the brain signal is read, how the signal amplitude changes when the pig's “patch” comes into contact with food. The third mumps previously lived with the implant, and then it was removed. On her example, it is shown that the operation of installing the chip is reversible and does not affect the behavior of the animal.

Together with Elon Musk, there was alsoa team of neurosurgeons, engineers, veterinarians, programmers and other Neuralink specialists, who explained the principles of the system and shared plans for further research. During the presentation, it was stated that the work is being carried out in close contact with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - the main medical regulator of the United States.

The main purpose of the Neuralink chips in the first phasewill restore the health of patients after injuries and diseases affecting the nervous system, restoration of vision, hearing and physical activity. In the future, the functions of the chips will be expanded and with its help it will be possible to mentally call Tesla from the parking lot, play games and receive information from external data sources. Ildon Musk also said that the company will strive to reduce the cost of chip implantation to an amount of several thousand dollars, making it affordable and comparable in price to laser vision correction surgery.

Source: slashgear