A sewing machine-like robot that can implant ultrathin threads deep into the brain

A sewing machine-like robot that can implant ultrathin threads deep into the brain
July 18, 2019
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From Elon Musk’s Neuralink Wants ‘Sewing Machine-Like’ Robots to Wire Brains to the Internet on The New York Times:

One of Neuralink’s distinguishing techniques is that it places flexible threads of electrodes in proximity to neurons, the tiny cells that are the basic building blocks of the brain.

The ability to capture information from a large number of cells and then send it wirelessly to a computer for later analysis is believed to be an important step to improving basic understanding of the brain.

The threads are placed using thin needles, and a so-called computer-vision system helps avoid blood vessels on the surface of the brain. The technique being used by Neuralink involves inserting a bundle of threads that are each about a quarter of the diameter of a human hair.

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The company is hoping to begin working with human subjects as soon as the second quarter of next year.

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The company says surgeons would have to drill holes through the skull to implant the threads. But in the future, they hope to use a laser beam to pierce the skull with a series of tiny holes.

The human body is not a plug and play device. It’s not easy to expand and upgrade. To open the doors to mass adoption, human enhancement technologies must find a way to make the augmentation as frictionless as possible.

Must-watch recording of the live announcement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-vbh3t7WVI