Recruiting participants now! Musk's brain-computer interface is really going to implant chips into the human brain.

Is the brain-computer interface industry about to see the light of day?

According to media reports, Neuralink, a brain-computer interface company owned by Musk, has officially started recruiting volunteers for its first clinical trial.

It is reported that the ideal candidates for volunteers are adults under the age of 40 with limb paralysis. The trial will involve the removal of a large portion of the volunteer's skull to connect electrodes and wires. After the work is completed by a large robot, the missing part of the skull will be replaced by a computer about a quarter of the normal size.

The implanted computer in the brain will operate for many years to read and analyze brain activity, and then transmit the information to nearby computer devices.

In May of this year, Neuralink announced that its first human clinical trial had received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In September, Neuralink announced that it would conduct its first brain-computer interface human trial this year.

A lofty goal

The development of brain implant technology can be traced back to the 1990s, when scientists discovered that thoughts cause neurons to fire signals in specific patterns, and these patterns have a certain degree of consistency.

Therefore, if there are sensors that can receive clear neural signals from the brain and transmit them to a computer, theoretically, a person's words and actions can be executed by the computer.

The Utah array is the so-called "sensor" in this process. Over the past 20 years, the Utah electrode array has been a key challenge in the development of brain-computer interface technology, but it has always remained in the laboratory.

Neuralink has taken the first step. It is reported that Neuralink's brain implant is a device that integrates processing, communication, and charging systems. It has more than 1,000 electrodes to receive brain data, while other competing companies' implants have only about 16 electrodes.

However, the goal of these brain-computer interface companies is very consistent, which is to build a brain scanning device that can go beyond the laboratory. This is why clinical trials are so important.

In addition, Neuralink is even involved in the semiconductor industry, attempting to produce low-power, low-heat chips, and create its own surgical robot to perform the delicate task of "placing wires with electrodes (referred to as lines by Neuralink) into the brain."

DJ Seo, co-founder and VP of Engineering at Neuralink, said: "The company's short-term goal is to establish a universal brain interface and restore autonomy to people with neurological disorders and unmet medical needs."

In 2016, Musk co-founded Neuralink with seven scientists and personally invested $100 million. Since then, Neuralink has raised over $500 million, including $280 million this year.

Despite criticism of Neuralink's previous animal experiments, its high level of activity undoubtedly helps attract investor attention to other brain-machine interface projects, bringing new opportunities to the brain-machine interface and even the medical device industry.

Next, Seo told the media that the phased goal is to have future implants with 128 or more threads and extend the battery life to up to 11 hours based on Neuralink's latest custom chip. Currently, the implants that Neuralink is about to experiment with have over 1,000 electrodes, and the battery life lasts for a few hours.

Seo said:

"In fact, the long-term goal is to benefit billions of people, unleash human potential, and surpass our biological capabilities."