In a scientific advance that seeks to change the lives of quadriplegic people. Elon Musk announced it to the world. Neuralink performed the first implantation of a chip in a human brain.
The ambition is to enhance human capabilities and treat neurological disorders such as ALS or Parkinson's. And one day achieve a symbiotic relationship between humans and artificial intelligence. “The first human received a Neuralink implant yesterday and is recovering well,” Musk announced.
Telepathy
It is a great advance for its innovative Telepathy technology. This will allow you to “control your phone or computer, and through them almost any device, just by thinking. “The first users will be people who have lost the functionality of their limbs.”
The chip called N1 is 8 millimeters in diameter and features 64 ultra-thin wires called threads. They house electrodes and insulation. “They are so thin that they cannot be inserted by the human hand. “Our surgical robot has been designed to insert them.”
There are 64 wires connected to the chip. They allow their experimental implant to record and transmit brain signals wirelessly to an app. The chip captures electrical signals from the brain when the person thinks or does something. It has the ability to control computers, smartphones, and various other devices without touching them.
The initial phase of the project would focus on helping the healthcare industry. Paraplegic people could use a telephone or control a computer. In the future, even speech, movement or memory would be restored. Eventually, humans will be able to communicate with each other without speaking.
Science fiction
Before reaching commercialization, Neuralink and other companies in the sector must pass various testing phases. This includes intensive safety data collection and trials, to obtain final approval from the FDA. Last year Neuralink, with 400 employees and headquartered in California, raised at least $363 million.
The first implantation of a chip in a human brain may seem like science fiction. But neuroscientists have been developing this type of technology since the 1970s. In 2016, a paralyzed man used BCI to control a robotic arm in a historic fist bump with President Barack Obama.
