HIGHLIGHTS
• Neuralink is seeking the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval
• Neuralink was founded in 2016 by Elon Musk and 8 others
• The company hopes to help paralysed people control devices
To help paralysed 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 that the tiniest human hair.
The chip which will be wireless in the future can read, transmit high-volume data and amplify signals from the brain. The aim is to drill four 8mm holes into patients' skulls and insert the "threads" each of the size between 4 and 6 micrometre -- 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 here late Tuesday.