The Utah array is the most popular brain implant. Each needle has a wire on its tip that captures brain signals. They can cause scarring to nearby tissue which can interfere with their recording ability. One of Neuralink's innovations is the flexible threads that are attached to its implant.
Neuralink is trying to improve on existing BCIs that require clunky setup and brain surgery by using a sewing machine-like robot to install electrodes through a small hole in the skull. Most current BCIs use external cables to connect to a computer from the top of a person's head.
Neuralink has been testing its prototype in pigs and monkeys, and in April 2021, the company posted a video of a macaque playing a video game without using her hands. A person with a BCI had already accomplished the feat.
In a company update in 2020 Musk was able to demonstrate the safety of the Neuralink device and its ability to record neural activity from the pigs' brains. The device was described as a fitness tracker for the head. One pig had an implant in its brain but had it removed before the demonstration, while the other pig had an implant but had it removed before the demonstration. The pig's brain signals were broadcasted.
The company's implant is the size of a quarter and contains 1,000 channels that can be used for recording and stimulation. Neuralink staff said on Wednesday that they were working on a chip with over 4,000 channels. Although Neuralink is the most well-known, there are many other companies working on brain implants and grappling with issues such as safety, longevity, and what they can get the implant to do.
Two former Neuralink employees are starting their own businesses. One of the original members of Musk's team, Benjamin Rapoport, founded Precision Neuroscience last year. In a November 21 post on the company's website, Science Corp staffers revealed their concept for a neural interface targeted at restoring eyesight in people with retinitis pigmentosa and dry age-related macular degeneration. The company is trying to demonstrate safety data in animals.
A thin, flexible brain implant for paralysis that lays on top of the brain and can be installed through a small slit in the head is being developed by Precision Neuroscience. According to Rapoport, the company has tested its device in pigs and hopes to get approval from the FDA to implant it in a human patient.
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