A brain-computer interface prototype to cure human neurological conditions.

Neuralink, Elon Musk's neuroscience startup, last week divulged a stunning coin-sized computer chip prototype. In a live-streamed event on YouTube, the company demonstrated a pig named Gertrude that reportedly had a chip implanted in its brain for two months, intending to cure human diseases with the same type of implant. The demonstration illustrated the technology which is significantly closer to delivering on Musk's ambitions during a 2019 product debut, when Neuralink exhibited photos of a rat with a Neuralink connected via a USB-C port.

According to reports, Neuralink expects to implant wireless brain-computer chips that include thousands of electrodes in the most complex human organ to assist in curing neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's, dementia and spinal cord injuries. However, Musk didn't mention any timeline for these treatments, but head surgeon Dr. Matthew MacDougall said, the company's first clinical trials with a small number of human patients would be aimed at treating paralysis or paraplegia. According to Musk, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July approved this Neuralink's breakthrough device testing.

Musk labelled the event as a "product demo" and asserted its primary purpose was to recruit potential new employees. Afterward, he revealed the new version of Neuralink's brain implant, which was said designed to fit snugly into the top of the skull. Although, Neuralink isn't the first company to reveal that brain implants that could amplify or restore human capabilities, researchers already began placing probes in the brains of paralyzed people back to the late 1990s to show that signals could let them move robot arms or computer cursors.

At the event, after demonstrating the pig's brain activity, Musk further showed a video footage of a pig walking on a treadmill and said Neuralink's device could help in predicting the position of limbs with high accuracy. The company's chips can also measure temperature, pressure and movement, subsequently the data collected could warn people about a heart attack or stroke, he said. Musk displayed a second-generation implant that is more compact and fits into a small cavity hollowed out of the skull. Tiny electrode threads penetrate the outer surface of the brain, sensing an electrical impulse from nerve cells that shows the brain is at work. In proportion to Neuralink's longer-term plans, the threads are designed to communicate back, with computer-generated signals of their own.

For neuroscientists, the demonstration that Neuralink had presented may be great strides but cautioned that longer studies were needed. Discussing sci-fi uses of Neuralink, Musk said, "The future is going to be weird. In the future you will be able to save and replay memories. You could basically store your memories as a backup and restore the memories. You could potentially download them into a new body or into a robot body."

Moreover, Neuralink is developing a robotic installer designed to handle the full surgical installation process, including opening up the scalp, removing a portion of the skull, inserting the hundreds of thread electrodes along with an associated computer chip, then closing the incision. These all will be done precisely dodging blood vessels to prevent bleeding.