Musk: Human trials of the brain chip are expected in six months

Elon Musk, in his role as boss of Neuralink, has announced that he expects to start human trials of a brain chip in six months. "Neuralink has filed paperwork with the FDA and we will carefully put the chip into the body to make sure it works properly."
Neuralink has developed a brain chip that could help the human brain control electronic devices to regain movement for the paralyzed or restore sight to the blind, according to previous reports.

A monkey named Sake typed "can I please have snacks" on a computer screen with "mind". Then he got what he wanted. He got the grapes.

That was the scene at the launch of Elon Muck's brain-computer interface company Neuralink. On December 1, Musk announced at a press conference that he expected to begin human trials within six months, formally implanting a chip in the brain.

Musk's obsession with the human brain

Musk explained Neuralink's most recent innovation in an effort to allay concerns about brain implants by adding that he would feel comfortable implanting a chip in one of his children if they sustained a major accident, like a broken neck.

It can be seen how dedicated and crazy Musk is to the human brain chip project.

Neuralink, founded in 2016 by Musk and a group of scientists and engineers, is one of the world's most advanced research institutes in the field of brain-computer interface technology, according to public records. Neuralink's short-term goal is to work on brain-computer interfaces that, as Musk has mentioned, could help paralyzed patients regain movement; The long-term goal is to empower humans to change our world.
According to Neuralink, the human brain has about 86 billion neurons, each made up of dendrites that receive signals, cell bodies that compute them, and axons that send them. Instead, these dendrites and axons, called synapses, communicate via electrical signals, and when an input signal is received, the neuron activates an action potential.

According to Neuralink, it would be feasible to record the electrical impulses produced by the brain, including everything that is seen, felt, touched, or thought, by attaching electrodes close to neurons in order to identify an action potential. Brain-computer connections are necessary for the transfer of information from neurons to computers. In order to enable patients to manage their computer or mobile device whenever and whenever they choose, Neuralink is working to develop a fully implanted, virtually undetectable brain-computer interface.

A sealed implant termed link, which analyzes and transmits nerve impulses, is the initial component of Neuralink's brain-computer interface system. The next step involves inserting nerve threads, or micron-scale transmission lines, into the parts of the brain that control movement. Each thin, flexible line contains a number of electrodes that detect nerve signals. Lastly, there is the charger, an inductive device that wirelessly connects to the implant and charges it externally. Additionally, Neuralink provides an app that may be operated by brain activity.

According to Musk, "Neurallace," a science-fiction idea from the "TheCulture" series of books by science fiction author IainM.Banks, served as the inspiration for Neuralink, the firm he co-founded and is concentrating on brain-computer interfaces. IainM.Banks characterizes the idea as a trackless, steady human brain interface that can communicate with the human brain.

With the intention of implanting brain-computer interface devices in patients with paralysis, Neuralink officially announced the first generation of implantable brain-computer interface design for the world in July 2019, a scalable high broadband brain-computer interface system called the N1 sensor. Musk said at the time that Neuralink's N1 sensor gadget had made it possible for a monkey to operate a computer using only its own brain.

In August 2020, Musk demonstrated the implant "Link" via a live video feed from Neuralink's headquarters. Neuralink will do this by implanting Link into the brains of a group of pigs and then displaying the pigs' brainwaves on a computer screen.

In April 2021, Neuralink's N1Link brain chip set the global tech world ablaze. In a demonstration Neuralink managed to get a monkey to play ping-pong without the help of a controller, using just "thoughts." In a video presentation, Neuralink said it had successfully implanted the N1Link brain chip into the brain of a 9-year-old macaque named Pager, placing more than 2,000 electrodes in the motor cortex region of Pager's brain. Neuralink notes, "It learns to interact with a computer and deliver a delicious banana smoothie through a straw."

In December 2021, Musk tweeted that Neuralink's brain-computer interface could be available in humans by 2022. While that hasn't happened so far, Musk hasn't changed his mind about embedding a brain-computer interface into the human brain.

What makes Musk so eager is that Neuralink competitor Synchron has implanted its device into the first patient's brain in the United States, and has done so in four patients in Australia. According to continued reports in the foreign media, Synchron's device has not made patients uncomfortable, and patients in the United States have been able to communicate with others on social networking apps and make purchases through Synchron's device.

Global progress in human brain chip

According to the research data of Mckinsey, the market analysis agency, it is estimated that the global brain-computer interface market scale is expected to reach 70 billion to 200 billion dollars during 2030 to 2040, with huge market capacity and future market prospects. In the next five to 10 years, the industry sees brain-computer interface as a new way to interact with computers through the intersection of computer science, neurobiology, mathematics, and rehabilitation medicine.

Facing the huge blue sea of market, the global brain-computer interface market is also quite active. In addition to Neuralink and Synchron mentioned above, MindMaze, BrainCo, BrainUp, NeuroXess and other companies are represented. As well as Google, Microsoft, Meta, Ali, Baidu, iFlyTek and other companies have directly or indirectly invested in this field.

In order to aid patients in recovering from trauma, the Swiss business MindMaze, founded in 2012, combines virtual reality, motion capture, and a machine interface in the brain. In contrast to Neuralink's approach, MindMaze promotes the development of non-invasive brain-computer interfaces to build a global platform for brain health. Elvira, MindMotionGo, and MindPod are just a few of the new items that MindMaze has introduced. The major goal of the product is to close the gap between the virtual and physical worlds to improve gaming immersion by predicting a player's intentions through neurological scans and coordinating them with monitored body motions. For the sports and rehabilitation markets, the business has also introduced programs like MindMotion and MindPodDolphin.
Founded in 2015, BrainCo is the first Chinese team selected by Harvard University InnovationLab. Brainco is committed to becoming the world's leading supplier of non-invasive brain computer interface technology solutions, with leading advantages in rehabilitation, human-computer interaction and other fields. BrainCo has launched products in the fields of rehabilitation, health and education, all using non-invasive solutions.

NeuroXess, whose Chinese name is Brain Tiger Technology, released a "brain-computer interface integrated cranioparietal semi-implant medical grade BCI product" at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2022. It is the first semi-invasive brain computer interface device in China and adopts the global original silk protein electrode wrapping technology. It can automatically avoid blood vessels and further reduce damage when it is implanted 2-3 mm into the cerebral cortex. It is mainly used for surgical equipment.

BrainUp is a Chinese technology company founded in June 2016 and headquartered in Beijing. BrainUp aims to create an open platform for brain-computer interaction based on neural network algorithms, focusing on breaking through the underlying BCI technology and combining BCI with artificial intelligence technology. The company's current products are focused on the health and safety sector, and take a non-invasive approach.

At present, with the deepening of technical research, BSI has found its market positioning in non-invasive, semi-invasive and invasive aspects. Among them, the non-invasive type is mainly for the health, rehabilitation, sports and education markets, and the main function of the product is to help improve the wearer's current physical fitness. The semi-invasive type is mainly used in the surgery industry. Although the semi-invasive type has poor mobile performance, it does not require high integration, so it is very suitable for the related equipment applied in brain surgery. The main direction of invasive brain computer interface is functional reconstruction of paralysis, blindness and other aspects. In the future, it may also be used to enhance human motor function and break the limit of human power.

Relevant statistics show that from 2008 to 2021, more than 80% of the investment in the global brain computer market was made by American companies, with European companies accounting for more than 10%. However, at present, the overall maturity of the global BCI technology is low, and it is still in the stage of market cultivation, with huge development potential.

Summary of Brain Chip

Brain computers are not just a business issue, but also an ethical and legal one, which may be one reason why some companies are relatively conservative in opting for non-invasive options. In theory, though, invasive has the advantage of knowing more about the brain, and thus more market imagination. To a fanatic like Musk, helping people rebuild their motor skills, or even building a real-life Iron Man, is surely more appealing than a device that simply knows what people are thinking.

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