Yes, you heard right it is not an era of inserting a chip in some machine or system, human has developed enough to insert a computer chip inside the human brain itself. In this blog, we are going to discuss about the project Neuralink which is initiated by the richest man in the world Elon Musk.
Introduction
Neuralink is a process where a small computer chip is inserted in the human brain to get the signal, and anyone can control the things around him with just his brain signals. The FDA is nothing but a U.S food and drug administration which provides authorization for medicines and medical devices. Which recently gave the authorization to Elon musk’s Neuralink N1 which clearly defines that the human trials are going to start even though till know they researched Pigs and Rhesus Macaques.
Rhesus Macaques
Even though there is a wide variety of animals, especially monkeys then why did they choose Rhesus Macaques which is one of the species of monkeys the main reason is that they are closer to humans when we compare them along their DNA, they also successfully tested the chip and the more about it is detailed below.
The process
Let’s take an example, if you want to move a cursor on the monitor with the help of your brain then it can be done it is because when you do it only the M1 region of your brain is active more and let’s say that with the help of the smart device you can convey the message to other which is nothing but BCI.
Neuralink N1
Neuralink N1 is also a BCI that is used to convey brain signals telepathically, you might think that I am talking about any sci-fi movie or a fictional story, but you are wrong not only Neuralink N1 many other companies try to reach this milestone.
Working of Brain
Before you came to know about the Neuralink N1 it is suggested that you should know about some basic functionality of human brain and if you know about it then it would be a revision for you let’s see,
It is said that our brain consists of 100 billion Neurons, and it has majorly three parts and they are
- Dendrites – which act as neurotransmitters and accepts the chemical reaction from the neighboring neurons.
- Soma – which interprets the chemical signals received by the other neurons and sends it with equivalent number of signals or impulse.
- Axon – which relays to the other neurons and to their dendrites through some gaps called Synapses.
Working of Neuralink N1
Being a brain computer the Neuralink comes in the place where electrical patterns are studied and what a human thinks it is displayed in the computers. Let, me make it simple for you if you have some basic knowledge in electrics then think that when a current passes through an insulated wire it can be detected from outside also and the same principle applies in neuralink also by just placing some micro electrodes along their axons.
History
The research is this field is from the 19 centuries as we come through the timeline in 2002 a monkey moves the cursor on a computer with his brain only.
The second one was in 2006 a man with tetraplegia after C3-C4 cervical injury he operated a television with the help of the signals obtained from the electrodes.
Elon musk
If the technology was from a long period of time, then why Elon musk chose this field because Elon musk don’t want to create something new but to provide best value to the society from the existing technology, which is efficient, Practical, Affordable.
Let’s see some other examples where Elon Musk tried to renovate the existing technology like his Tesla – electric vehicles, the history of electric vehicle started from Ferdinand Porche followed by Hendry Ford all these peoples started to work from early 19 centuries to late 20th century.
The difference was brought by Tesla, which was launched in 2006 with rectifying the major problems in the existing technology and as the result the car is luxurious, and it can cover 200 miles in a single charge and also with the faster charging technology.
The same situation is in Neuralink also which is developed in the existing technology with improvement in the problems.
Competitors
It is not bad to have competition or competitors because it forces each other to perform better and to avoid monopoly and the competitors are Utah Array and Synchron’s Neuro-EP
Utah Array
The Utah Array is an implanted computer device that receives impulses from the brain. In other words, a neural interface conveys them in a language that a computer can comprehend.
Utah array also reached the stage for human trial and there might be a question that if there are such companies in the market then why peoples are waiting for Neuralink.
Because in Utah Array 100 rigid needle electrode in inserted in the patient’s head whose wires are connected to another computer system to interpret the signals which means this is not practical and user friendly for the user.
Synchron
With the help of the brain’s own natural highways, the blood vessels, Neuro EP Synchron has created an endovascular brain computer interface that can reach every part of the brain. Neuro interventional Electrophysiology, a new field in the treatment of neurological illnesses, is opened by our ground-breaking platform.
To overcome the drawback of Utah Array by bringing a compact device which has microelectrodes does not penetrate instead they surround the brain with the help of the blood vessels around the brain and a small recorder is fixed in the chest it collects the information and the data is transmitted to a computer or a system wirelessly.
But it also has drawbacks, if you have observed they just surround the brain and they are at a distance from the neurons so the accuracy in not at all good.
Butin neuralink the micro electrodes are so flexible and on the other hand its Bluetooth transmitter is a size of a coin, and the most important part is its installation which is done by a surgical robot without breaking even a single blood vessel in the whole process, which means it is as accurate as Utah Array and as compact as Neura EP.
Permission
Neuralink didn’t get the full permission because of some controversies like animal cruelty because they used animals to check as well as dead animals and the animals which are near to death also used in the research because of these problems the permission was not granted for human tests.
It is another thing that Neuralink is so advanced when compared to other recently A pager Rhesus Macaque monkey has seen controlling a video game with his mind. It is a big achievement that it is enough to pass the safety checks.
Conclusion
Space X senior executive and former NASA astronaut Garret Reisman has recently reviled a new thing in a recent podcast that Elon Musk follows mainly two philosophies the first on is that whatever he does it should have practical application and the second one is that whatever the tech he creates it should play some role in the self-sustainable colony on mars .
If you look back to Elon Musk’s achievements, you can see all the dots get connected for example Space X which is used to provide cheap and affordable travel to mars and the second one is electric cars because there are no fossil fuels discovered till now on the planet of Mars. Finally, the Starlink because he knows that satellite communication iis more efficient than compared to the communication made with towers, star link also used to cover a large area
Application of Neuralink
It has the ability to cause encephalopathy.
It might also serve as a link between technology and people.
By simply controlling their phones with their brains, paralyzed persons may benefit.
It can also be used to snap images, draw pictures, and so on.
For people suffering from numerous neurodegenerative diseases and brain illnesses, this technology may represent a breakthrough.
Drawback
Neuralink is undoubtedly a horrible concept, which is “creating extremely high bandwidth brain-machine interfaces to connect humans and computers.”
FAQ’S
1.Who is Elon Musk?
2. Companies owned by Elon Musk?
3.What is Neuralink N1?
4. Who is Rhesus Macaques?
5. Competitors of Neuralink?
Disclaimer -We have collected this information from our direct sources, various trustworthy sources on the internet and the facts have been checked manually and verified by our in-house team.