Could we really be just one year away from implanting a human with a 1,536 channel brain machine interface? Last weeks Neuralink announcement was primarily for recruiting, but Elon Musk and his team shared with the public a quantum leap in implantable brain technology. The first of Neuralinks three goals is to increase by orders of magnitude the number of neurons which you can read and write from. Considering that the current FDA approved deep brain stimulation device has only 10 electrodes and Neuralink has been testing configurations up to 3,072 electrodes they are on track. Another goal is to make the surgery as convenient an operation as Lasik is today. Their autonomous neurosurgical robot is looking strong with over 19 animal surgeries and 87% success rate on wire placement.
The Robot and the Threads
Implanting electrodes in the brain is dangerous work and the tiny threads which have been developed require a robot to get the job done. Neuralinks autonomous neurosurgical robot is designed to avoid blood vessels and rapidly install up to 192 electrodes per minute. This is happening through a 2mm hole in the head with a 24 micron needle placing threads that are only 1/4 as thick as a human hair each containing 32 electrodes.
N1 Sensor
The N1 processor which Neuralink has developed uses analog pixels to read 20,000 samples a second on each of the 1536 electrodes. There is a builtin ADC with 10 bit resolution and bandwidth up to 200Mbps is supported. This processor will connect to a device currently called the link which is mounted behind the ear and houses the battery and bluetooth module. The N1 processor is currently 5x smaller than anything else available today.
Data / Control / Software
An app will be available for iOS users to customize settings. The electrodes current placement is in three parts of the motor cortex area and one in the somatosensory area. Future configurations are projected up to 10,000 electrodes with placements on both hemispheres. Will this be enough to get a tetraplegic person typing 40 words per minute? That is another one of Neuralinks goals.
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: The latest on Raspberry Pi RP2350-E9, Bluetooth 6, 4,000 Stars and more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
