Elon Musk invested hundreds of millions of dollars to 'chip' the chip into the human brain

Neuralink company invested by billionaire Elon Musk wants to bring data collection devices into the human brain with a simple surgery.

Elon Musk wants to put a computer, a small chip on the phone, into the human brain safely and easily. That's why he invested $ 100 million for Nerualink, the company that developed the device.

Neuralink recently announced a "sewing machine-like" robot that they plan to use to put machines into the human brain, and plans to test it from 2020.

The project is like a science fiction novel

According to Neuralink, the chip is inserted into the human brain that can read and write data. However, the NY Times considers the company's vision to be a bit unrealistic, considering the vision of many other companies owned or invested by billionaire Elon Musk.

This tiny chip can be inserted into the brain surface, taking data from tiny electrodes for studies of the human brain.(Photo: Neuralink).

Like the achievements of artificial intelligence, the idea of ​​putting a device into the human brain to speed up communication between people and computers sounds like it was taken from a scientific novel. This idea was mentioned in the novel "Neuromancer" by William Gibson, in which the chip put into the human brain to help them access the entire database of data.

Of course, the real products of Neuralink are far from reaching the level of novels. The company representative said "it is very long" that they can provide chip implant services in the human brain in commercial form.

"We want to get rid of the pressure from having to keep it secret to be able to function normally, such as publishing research results," said Max Hodak, President of Neuralink.

According to the description of Neuralink, the chip will be connected to a compact device, mounted on the head to transmit wireless data to the computer, for research purposes.(Photo: Neuralink).

According to Neuralink Project Director Shivon Zilis, Elon Musk has made many positive contributions to solving the project's technical challenges. He also gave medical ideas that Neuralink could solve.

According to Mr. Hodak, Neuralink can solve human nervous system problems in the near future, such as helping people with disabilities move back or support deaf and visually impaired people.

The "stitch" machine into the human brain

Currently, to put the chip in the human brain, the surgeons will have to drill a hole in the skull. However, in the future, this technique could be replaced by a laser projector to drill holes in the skull.

"One of the biggest challenges of a mechanical drill is that the vibration when drilling through the skull is very uncomfortable, while using a laser will not feel the vibration," Mr. Hodak said.

This is a machine that "stitches" the electrodes of a chip into the human brain, through tiny wires.(Photo: Neuralink).

Neuralink will work with brain surgeons at Stanford University and many other medical schools to conduct tests.

The company also introduced a machine to read data from the brain mouse in the laboratory, with 1,500 electrodes, 15 times more than the "best" scanner for humans.

This machine is used in medical research and application. However, many independent scientists also expressed the view that experimenting with lab animals does not guarantee success when applied to humans.

Nerualink's most outstanding technological achievement is that they can place connections between electrodes very close to neurons, tiny cells that make up the brain.

If it is possible to collect data from giant cells and transfer them wirelessly to a computer, this will be a breakthrough in human brain research.

Neuralink's special machine will use micro needles and imaging systems to help insert the chip into the brain and "stitch" the electrodes very accurately, avoiding touching the blood vessels on the surface of the brain.

According to the company, the wires between the chip and the human brain are only about a quarter of a hair length. Each conductor will connect to a series of electrodes, or can be considered sensors.

The data wires are only as thick as a quarter of a hair strand.(Photo: Neuralink).

The chip can be placed in different locations and depths in the brain to study the different functions of the brain, such as the brain centers for speaking, seeing, hearing or controlling movement.

According to Terry Sejnowski, a professor at Salk Institute of Biology, the flexibility of wires developed by Neuralink is an advantage. However, he also noted that researchers of Neuralink need to prove the insulation capacity of these wires, because the environment in the brain can corrode the insulating layer after a while.

In the future, Neuralink can develop applications on smartphones to control surrounding devices, using a chip implanted in the brain.(Photo: Neuralink).

Neuralink is not the only unit involved in developing brain reading devices. The Pentagon has funded many brain research projects and integrated control systems in the brain for prosthetic hands and feet. In addition, some studies also use light to replace electrodes in collecting data from the brain.

The Advanced Defense Projects Research Agency (DARPA) has published studies showing the ability to control prosthetics for some basic actions.

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