Elon Musk’s Neuralink unveils brain-chip implant technology, to seek human trials in 2020

To help paralyzed people control devices and empower people with brain disorders enrich their lives, Elon Musk-led startup Neuralink has revealed tiny brain ‘threads’ in a chip which is long-lasting, usable at home and has the potential to replace cumbersome devices currently used as brain-machine interfaces.

The company is seeking the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to start clinical trials on humans in 2020.

The technology has a module that sits outside the head and wirelessly receives information from threads embedded in the brain.

Controlled by an iPhone app, the chip called ‘N1 sensor’ with just a USB port coming out can have as many as 3,072 electrodes per array, distributed across 96 threads each thread smaller than the tiniest human hair.

The aim is to drill four 8mm holes into patients’ skulls and insert the threads each of the sizes between 4 and 6 micrometres about one-third the diameter of a human hair.

Currently, there is a robot to do the brain surgery which, according to a research paper released by Neuralink, has performed surgeries on animals and successfully placed the threads.

“This has the potential to solve several brain-related diseases. The idea is to understand and treat brain disorders, preserve and enhance your own brain and create a well-aligned future,” Musk told the audience at an event late Tuesday.

“With a high-bandwidth brain-machine interface, I think we can actually help scores of patients,” said the Tesla founder who also said he is looking to hire more talent in Neuralink.

According to Max Hodak, president of Neuralink, he wasn’t originally sure “this technology was a good idea” but Musk convinced him.

“We didn’t want any connectors or wires coming through the skin. It had to be something that would last for a longer period of time, not something that you’d have to take out after two-three years; it had to have practical bandwidth,” said Hodak.