The 2024 Neuralink Update Is Here!

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
In the year twenty twenty four,Neuralink will begin implanting their microcomputers into human
brains for the first time. Thereis no longer speculation. This is reality.
So there's no better time to getyourself familiar with the rapidly evolving field
of brain computer interface and how ElonMusk's Neuralink is about to change the game.

(00:21):
The future is now, and you'dbetter be ready. A major update
in the Neuralink story is, ofcourse, the approval for human trials that
the company received in the first halfof twenty twenty three, and we now
have a better idea of what thatwill look like. The company announced in
September twenty twenty three that they havestarted recruiting for the first human test subjects

(00:42):
for the N one Brain computer Interfaceand our one surgical robot that will be
used to implant it. The PRIMEstudy, short for Precise robotically Implanted Brain
Computer Interface aims above all to determinethe safety of both the BCI and the
robot for human application. It willalso assess the initial functionality of the BCI

(01:03):
in enabling people with paralysis to controlexternal devices with their thoughts. For the
purpose of the trial, An idealcandidate would be an adult under the age
of forty who was experiencing paralysis inall four limbs. This patient would have
their neuralink implanted over what's known asthe hand knob area of their premotor cortex,

(01:23):
which controls the hands, wrists,and forearms. In twenty twenty one,
Neuralink performed a total of one hundredand fifty five surgeries on sheep,
pigs, and monkeys, and intwenty twenty two that number grew to two
hundred and ninety four total surgeries.In a typical FDA human trial, the

(01:44):
medical company would be limited to justone human experiment in the first year,
with a long cool down period toassess the results. But in the case
of Neuralink, thanks to their existingtrack record with animal testing and the massive
outpouring of interest from active human patients, the company has already received a green
light for multiple human surgeries in twentytwenty four. The plan right now is

(02:08):
for Neuralink to perform eleven human implantsin twenty twenty four. That will increase
to another twenty seven implants in twentytwenty five and seventy nine in twenty twenty
six. If all goes well.After this point, operations at Neuralink will
truly begin to ramp up. Thecompany anticipates four hundred and ninety nine surgeries

(02:30):
in twenty twenty seven, and thenexponential growth into twenty thirty when they are
performing twenty two thousand, two hundredand four surgeries in that year, Yes,
twenty two thousand, that was nota typo with human subjects. The
surgical prep and craniectomy are expected totake a couple of hours performed by neurosurgeons,

(02:50):
followed by about twenty five minutes forthe actual implantation via the R one
robot. The company estimates that eachimplant surgery will cast them about ten five
hundred dollars for exams, parts,and labor, and the amount they charge
insurers will be about forty thousand dollars. Neuralink forecasts annual revenue as high as

(03:12):
one hundred million dollars within five years. The prime study is expected to take
Neuralink six years to complete and verifytheir findings. The company is recruiting specifically
for patients who have quadriplegia due tospinal cord injury or amiotrophic lateral sclerosis.
More commonly known as als. Theprimary phase will take eighteen months once the

(03:36):
device has been implanted, and thepatient will check in every two months with
a medical team to ensure the deviceis working as intended. The bulk of
the research will happen in one hoursessions twice a week with the Neuralink BCI
team, where they will monitor andcollect as much data as possible. Once
the primary phase is over, thelong term follow up phase will commence with

(03:58):
four clinical visits and for the nextfive years. So all this looks promising,
but with such experimental technology at play, things remain uncertain until they are
completed. And while there is alot we can learn from our primate cousins,
the human body and brains still hasits own unique attributes. And while

(04:19):
the USFDA has approved the trials,you can be certain they are keeping a
close eye because it hasn't been allsmooth sailing for Neuralink. In December twenty
twenty two, the US Department ofAgriculture launched a probe into Neuralink's treatment of
some animal subjects. In February twentytwenty three, the US Department of Transportation

(04:39):
opened an investigation over allegations of unsafetransport of antibiotic resistant pathogens, and the
latest one in September twenty twenty threecomes in the form of allegations that the
monkeys that died during trials were notterminally ill, as Elon Musk claimed,
but instead due to the Neuralink implant. So with humans, when now directly

(05:00):
involved in the trials, we canbe certain the scrutiny will be at its
peak because while BCI might not benew technology, the way Neuralink is attempting
to execute it still remains uncharted.Waters we know that Elon Musk is no
stranger to risky technological innovation, soit's not entirely surprising that in twenty sixteen
he decided to cross over from rocketscience to brain surgery. While sensationalist and

(05:24):
fear mongering headline scream Elon Musk wantsto put a chip in your brain,
the truth is more nuanced than that. Neuralink's primary objective has always been to
cure brain diseases, spinal cord injuries, and correct disabilities, and they seek
to do that through the use ofa brain computer interface. To understand how
a brain computer interface or BCI works, it helps to know how the brain

(05:47):
functions within the skull. The lumpybiomass we call the brain controls the rest
of the body by generating very specificand directed electrical impulses. These are fired
to different areas of the body viathe neural network to carry out various functions.
But sometimes the pathway between the brainand the desired body part gets broken,

(06:09):
either through injury or degenerative disease.A BCI is a device that can
function as a way to bypass thatbroken connection, allowing the brain to once
again talk to the desired body partand restore function. Since the BCI is
implanted in the brain, it canpick up an electrical impulse and transport it
beyond the damaged part of the neuralnetwork to the part that is still functioning.

(06:32):
It is a simple concept, butincredibly complex and delicate to actually execute.
Neuralink is certainly not the first totry this, as BCIs have been
around for decades and proven their success. The current generation of BCIs use a
device called the Utah array. Itis a tiny metal square smaller than a

(06:53):
human nail, with up to ahundred electrodes on one end. Each electrode
is connected to thin copper wires totransport electrical signals. The array is implanted
directly onto the cerebral cortex of thebrain, where it picks up electrical impulses
and sends it to an external devicewith neuralink Elon, Musk does not seek

(07:13):
to reinvent the wheel when it comesto BCI. He just aims to push
the technological limits of BCI further thanit has been done so far. In
a sector where caution is the nameof the game, Musk is willing to
make big bets on unproven technology ashe figures out a way to make it
all work, and Neuralink has alreadystarted that shakeup that Musk and his ventures

(07:35):
have become well known for. Thereare three key ways neuralink has innovated to
take the industry forward. The firstis the way the device interfaces with the
brain cortex. Instead of the rigidand spiked UTAH array, the neuralink and
one is a mesh of ultra thinand flexible wires. With each electrode wire
being flexible. It allows for everywire to be placed more strategically and with

(07:59):
greater percent decision over specific neurons insidethe brain tissue. In addition to that,
flexible and thin wires cause far lesstrauma to the brain tissue. This
results in less inflammation and scar tissueand a lower chance of rejection from the
body. Another key industry improvement isthe implantation procedure for the device. The
UTAH array needs the very steady handsand skill of an expert neurosurgeon, not

(08:24):
something we have in great supply everywhere. Neuralink, on the other hand,
furthers Elon Musk's vision of automated everythingby using a fully autonomous robot for the
procedure. Modern robots have superhuman precisionand can potentially make the device far more
accessible and safe as it removes thehuman error component. We have seen precision

(08:45):
machines used to great success for lasereye correction operations, where a highly focused
laser burns a human cornea to avery specific degree. The Neuralink R one
robot is thus, in many ways, the safer choice word industry improvement neurlink
is set to bring is how smalland compact it is. The thin wires
connect to a circular device that's thesize of a small coin. Future versions

(09:11):
of the device will be placed underthe skin, making it completely inconspicuous.
A person can have an implant andyou would never know unless they told you.
This is a major shift from theUtah array, which is pretty much
impossible to hide with its bulky designand wires protruding from it. This could
make it far more approachable and acceptablein society without attracting unwanted stigmas. Neuralink

(09:35):
has done this by using cutting edgesilicon transistors that are as small as three
nanometers, resulting in a device thatcan easily be hidden under the skin,
and with wireless Bluetooth technology to interfacewith external devices, it makes for a
compelling package. Okay, so Neuralinkhas made some big leaps in terms of
how we approach brain implants, butthey aren't the only players in the game

(09:56):
right now. There are a fewothers of no. Two that use invasive
BCI and two that don't. Thefirst is from a company called Blackrock Neurotech.
If you've seen ABCI video somewhere,there's a high chance it's one of
theirs. The neuroport array used intheir BCI is the same technology used in
the Utah array and is implanted directlyonto the brain. It picks up electrical

(10:20):
impulses and can be used to controlexternal devices like computers as well as prosthetics.
The biggest advantage the Blackrock Neurotech devicehas, though, is it's been
in human trials for over fifteen yearsat this point, with over one hundred
and sixty published papers documenting its useand data from thirty two patients. None

(10:43):
have reported any adverse side effects.One of the notable drawbacks of this device,
though, is it doesn't last thatlong. The rigid electrodes creates scar
tissue and cause the electrodes to breakdown over time. This results in a
drop in signal quality after two years. While it still remains usable and poses
no threat to the user, mostdevices will need to be replaced in five

(11:05):
to seven years. This is oneof the key challenges that Neuralink hopes to
solve. They want their device tobe permanent and infinitely upgradeable. The other
invasive BCI player is a company calledSynchron founded in twenty sixteen. Its BCI
device, the stentrode, was createdto offer implanting a device in the brain

(11:26):
without the need for open brain surgery. It is an endovascular array medical speak
for an array that is inside ablood vessel that observes neural data. The
centrode is a circular mesh that isinserted into a very specific blood vessel,
the superior sagitized sinus using a guidestent. The stent is inserted from a

(11:46):
blood vessel in the chest and makesits way all the way to the brain
via the neck till it reaches itsdestination, where it then retracts while depositing
the stentrode. The device is limitedin functionality since its location the specific vessel
only enables it to receive signals fromthe legs, feet, and genitals.
This can be used for lower limbprosthetics, but it does limit its BCI

(12:07):
application. While it is still relativelynew tech, it was approved for human
trials by the USFDA in twenty twenty. It is currently in its second stage
of human trials. We still don'tknow what the long term effects of this
would be, since the centrode iseffectively a permanent implant, and if it
develops a problem later on, itwould involve invasive open brain surgery to correct.

(12:31):
There are two more companies of notein the BCI industry who have taken
a different approach by keeping their productsnon invasive. The first is Kernel,
founded in twenty sixteen, the sameyear as Neuralink, and while the name
might not be familiar, you mightbe aware of the man behind it,
Brian Johnson. He's the tech tycoonobsessed with extending life in some shall we

(12:52):
say memorable ways. Kernel has optedfor a completely non invasive approach to their
BCI, employing a headset called theKernel Flow that looks like a futuristic bulky
bicycle helmet. The biggest advantage,besides not having a hole in your skull,
is it has electrodes all around thebrain instead of focusing on just a

(13:13):
specific part of the cerebral cortex likethe Neuralink and the black Rock. That
allows far more data to be pickedup by the BCI. The downside,
of course, is that with theskull and biomass between the device and the
brain, the signal isn't as strongas an invasive implant, so you get
a bigger picture, but the pictureisn't as clear. While its utility is

(13:33):
severely limited, it does have potentialin allowing us to study how the brain
works and responds to external inputs.It can be used in medical applications for
MRIs EEGs and other non invasive neuroimagingtechniques. Another interesting player in the industry
is OpenBCI. Like the name suggests, they use open source hardware and software

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for anyone to access and experiment with. You have access to a three D
printer, OpenBCI has a bundle fora mere fifteen hundred dollars, a relative
bargain that will provide you with allyou need to build your very own biosensing
headset. If you're the sort ofperson that loves DIY projects, this is
incredibly exciting. Furthermore, they arealso working on a headset called the Galaia

(14:18):
that combines a BCI with a VRheadset. If you thought the Apple Vision
Pro was cool, this takes itway further, incorporating your own brain waves
into the experience. Of course,it's twenty five grand to pre order,
so it's either this or a newcar you choose. Cutting edge technology is
always expensive, and while the Galaiacosts as much as a car, the

(14:39):
Kernel Flow two with the included fortymodules will set you or your medical business
back and eyewatering ninety nine thousand dollarsbefore taxes. So you can rest assured
the neuraling BCI will not be cheap, at least not initially. We've come
a long way from crutches and wheelchairsto experimental BCI to help with injuries and
disabilities. Faster, wireless internet coupledwith smaller and faster computers has played a

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big role in this boom, andsure almost every piece of new age tech
can be misused. War and violenceis, after all, an industry worth
billions. Right now, the goalsare noble and social. Neuralink seems to
be at the forefront of this industry, and with the approval for human trials,
this is no longer fantasy. Weare on the precipice of something incredible

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for humankind, and there is avery good chance we will be the generation
to experience it for the first timein history.