Elon Musk's Neuralink, the most important development on Earth

Brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) hold promise for the restoration of sensory and motor function and the treatment of neurological disorders, but clinical BMIs have not yet been widely adopted, in part because modest channel counts have limited their potential. In this white paper, we describe Neuralink’s first steps toward a scalable high-bandwidth BMI system. We have built arrays of small and flexible electrode “threads”, with as many as 3,072 electrodes per array distributed across 96 threads. We have also built a neurosurgical robot capable of inserting six threads (192 electrodes) per minute. Each thread can be individually inserted into the brain with micron precision for avoidance of surface vasculature and targeting specific brain regions. The electrode array is packaged into a small implantable device that contains custom chips for low-power on-board amplification and digitization: the package for 3,072 channels occupies less than (23 × 18.5 × 2) mm3. A single USB-C cable provides full-bandwidth data streaming from the device, recording from all channels simultaneously. This system has achieved a spiking yield of up to 85.5 % in chronically implanted electrodes. Neuralink’s approach to BMI has unprecedented packaging density and scalability in a clinically relevant package.[www.biorxiv.org...]biorxiv.org[/url]

Neuralink envisions a tiny implant that connects wirelessly with a small receiver placed behind the ear. Musk’s aim is to make the surgery “equivalent to a LASIK type of thing where you sit down, a machine does its thing, and you can walk away within a few hours.”NST.com

The operation consists of a 2 mm incision in the scalp, widened to 8mm, and after the 4x4mm chip (pictured) is inserted, the incision is 'essentially glued shut' requiring no stitches

There is a hole drilled into the skull, which is later capped by the relay sensor

The embed machine places incredibly thin polymer threads at specific points in the brain

The threads are 4 to 6 μm, about 1/3 the diameter of a human hair

It uses a telescopic needle with micron precision

And is capable of inserting six threads (192 electrodes) per minute

The machine recognizes and bypasses blood vessels for minimal tissue displacement

As many as 3,072 electrodes per array distributed across 96 threads

4.Other Points of Note