Neuralink is a Sci-Fi idea that joins Human minds straightforwardly to electronic gadgets or PCs. By utilizing computerized inserts which permits your brain to legitimately interface with electronic devices and projects. Right now, going to give total point by point data about Neuralink.
- What is Neuralink?
Neuralink - How It Works?
- Design of Neuralink chip.
- Planning and Future of Neuralink.
What Is Neuralink?
Neuralink Corporation is an American neurotechnology organization established by Elon Musk and others, creating implantable cerebrum machine interfaces (BMIs). Neuralink is an idea that interfaces your cerebrum to a PC. For this interface, robotic chips are should have been embedded in the cerebrum.
- Limbic System – Its most heavily implicated in emotion and memory.
- Cortex – This part of our brain is for thinking and planning.
Mesh Electrodes
Among these two systems of Human Cognition, the Neuralink would be the third layer on top of these two systems. This third layer of Neuralink will be a digital superintelligence layer that can increase our intelligence which can match with computer intelligence and eventually an Artificial Intelligence. If we get more about this layer, these layers are even in our phones & laptops where all the world’s information is at our fingertips. This depends on how we interface with that information on our fingers and speech is too slow and a very low bandwidth form of communication between us and our devices. A Much faster way to get to this information would be a direct way of communication to our devices this is known as Brain-to-Machine Interface. For more stability and better connection scientists, doctors, electrical engineers, surgeons and more are working on it.
How Neuralink Works?
Neurons firing
Our brain consists of neurons firing all the time in response to electrical signals that are sent when we see, hear, move, talk, or think. When the neurons fires, from these electrical signals a tiny electromagnetic field is present. Primarily neuron is going to tap into these tiny electric field generated as sinus junction in the brain. It’s going to interpret this analog data as 1’s and 0’s to be used in the digital world. The neuron pulses will be detected as using tinny threads about 1/10th cross-section of a human hair or
about the size of a neuron. Each thread will be installed with a robot so it’s not going to burst blood vessels or cause trauma. The needle for insertion is 24 microns in diameter much smaller than the state of the art in deep brain stimulation. Such surgeries had been done before for deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s suffers through these traditional methods have a 1 in 100 chance of causing a severe brain hemorrhage, a smaller footprint should make things much safer. The Neuralink consists of thousands of electrodes, these electrons need to be less than 60 microns away from each other to detect a fire in neuron and serve as the interface that needs data from the brain and sends data to the brain.
Neuralink Chip:-
 |
| n1 chip with pot behind ear |
The pod device is the only thing that’s going to be upgraded and the implant stays as they are. If we remove the pod, everything shuts off. n1 chip is in 4*5 mm. It consumes low power and has built-in hardware for processing brain signals. It can read 20,000 brain samples per second. These are the real new signals coming from a neural link hooked up to a brain. The scientists are looking for spikes in voltage when a neuron fires, this is the fundamental element of communication with the brain.
An algorithm can detect these spikes in real-time decode them and make sense that the vast amounts of data coming in. The system cannot only need data from the brain but also write data, to do this a signal is run through an electrode near a neuron causing that neuron to fire this kind of thing again. This has also done in the late 1950s, It is a basic technology behind the cochlear implant the one that helps to hear.
 |
| Analog Brain signals to Digital Signals 1’s and 0’s |
The information inputted into the brain doesn’t have to be perfect because of neuroplasticity, which means the brain learns how to use the new information. Reading data from the brain and inputting data into the brain can be already kind of has been used to treat things like Parkinson’s and epilepsy. In the future, this also is used for future applications that can include things as far as depression, chronic pain, etc. Further applications can improve cognitive function and memory.
Planning and Future Scope:-
The plan for the Neuralink is to connecting the n1 chips with thousands of electrodes are coming from each chip signals will be sent via Bluetooth to the pod device behind the ear. The pod device will be controlled by a phone. The first goal is to get patients to be able to control a mobile device a phone mouse, or a keyboard. The Neuralink will show up as a regular Bluetooth keyboard or mouse they want to make people fully independent of their care taken.
This has done before with a technology called the Utah Rae with only just a hundred electrodes people are able to text other people and control tablets with their minds. Neuralink has thousands of electrodes resulting in a clear more reliable signal for more complex applications. The first application for the Neuralink is to tap into the primary motor cortex the part of the brain that sends signals down to the spinal cord and onto the muscles to drive the moment it will start with simple things like a mouse and keyboard. It can also be used to read signals from all movements even speech. It could also be used to restore movements of someones over the body. The material science wants to use the materials or properties that would make the brain not only accept the neural link but think that its part of itself. There’s also a paper released by the team of Neuralink “An Integrated Brain to Machine Interface Platform with thousands of channel”. Reading, recording and studying data from the brain requires n1 chip. Early tests on the monkey have been successful and the monkey was able to control the computer with its brain. Human trials are going to start by the end of 2020. The target patient will be a quadriplegic due to spinal cord injury. The main handle so far has been FDA approval for implantable devices.
The future of Neuralink will be in 3 steps:-
- Understand and treat brain disorders.
- Preserve and enhance one’s own brain.
- Full Brain to Machine Interfaces.
 |
| Endless Possibilities with BMI int |
- Is Neuralink is Ethical?
- Should we do this?
- What about risks?
