Speaker 1: You've already heard about how we can use the N one link as a communication prosthesis to help someone with spinal cord injury control a computer or a phone, but it can also be used to reanimate the body.
Speaker 2: Um, what? Yep, that's right. Neurolink wants to reanimate the body to help people who've experienced a severe spinal cord injury gain more mobility. Neurally just showed us how its new implant. The N one chip could stimulate the spinal cord and generate movement.
Speaker 2: [00:00:30] The N one chip is an upgraded version of neural link's previous brain machine interface. The link, it's about the size of a quarter and has 1024 channels capable of recording and stimulating neural activity. The N one is micro fabricated on flexible thin foam arrays that neurally calls threads at the show and tell Neurally showed us a pig with two N one chips, one implanted [00:01:00] in its brain, the other implanted in its spinal cord. The pig was also wearing electrodes, the track movement, similar to what movies use for special effects. When the researcher stimulated an electrode on one thread of the N one chip, it caused the pig to bend its leg. Here you can see the movement of the pig's joints. You can also see the real time data captured of the stimulation pattern in yellow, that the pigs leg is moving up. This was a demo of a short muscle movement, but Neurolink also claims the [00:01:30] N one spinal implant is capable of stimulating sustained movement, powerful muscle contractions that you might need for standing or other load bearing activities that enable you to interact with the world around you.
Speaker 2: It's one thing to stimulate movement, but quite another to repair the feeling of touching something. Neurally also says that by implanting an N one chip into the brain of someone with a spinal injury, they can stimulate part of the brain that perceives sensation. Neurally also says that by implanting an N one chip into the brain [00:02:00] of someone with a spinal injury, they can stimulate part of the brain, the perceived sensation. In other words, the N one chip can't replicate sensation in someone with paralysis, but it can trick the brain into thinking it's feeling something. When motor function is stimulated in the spinal cord neuron's, N one chip is not ready for commercial production yet, but the company says it's made significant progress to its hardware and software and that the N one is no longer a prototype. So essentially it's not ready to be implanted in humans yet.
Speaker 2: But this isn't a totally early proof [00:02:30] of concept either. It's in the middle. We also saw more monkey demos at Neurally Show and tell. If you remember, last year, we got a demo of page, the monkey playing pong on a computer with his mind using a Neurolink chip implanted in its brain. These monkeys are typing sentences and following cursor movements with their minds. Neurally says it updated software in the N one chip compared to the link to make it run faster and be more predictable. Neurally isn't alone in trying to wire us to computers. Researchers and [00:03:00] companies like Syncro and Perros are working on similar brain implants as well as interfaces that can connect with the brain without any surgery at all. Finally, another eye-catching part of neural lyn's presentation was the robotic surgeon implanting the chips. Neurally showed a robot called the R one inserting neuron's N one chip into a brain, well, a simulated brain inside an animate test dummy.
Speaker 2: No human trials yet the robotic surgery takes seconds per thread quickly, making a small incision in the brain [00:03:30] and inserting the N one chip. After the implant is under the skin, it's no longer visible. Musk claims the entire procedure could take about 10 minutes. Like laser guy surgery. Neurally says robotic surgery would be safer, more reliable, and more affordable than using human surgeons. The company says it has a fully robotic operating room at their facility in Austin, Texas, but their goal is to eventually have a suite of neurally clinics run entirely with R one robots. That's wild To think about [00:04:00] long term must says the N one chip could help humankind heat pace with the speed of artificial intelligence, but these are pretty lofty goals right now. We hardly know how the brain works. Some of these goals may not even be within reach within the next few decades. Not to mention the neurally still needs FDA approval before it can begin. Human trials though must says he expects FDA approval within six months, but still restoring motor movement has the potential to drastically change treatment [00:04:30] and function for people with spinal cord injuries. You'll definitely wanna keep an eye on neurolink, so be sure to like and subscribe to CNET for the latest news. We'll make sure to warn you if there's a cyborg on the loose.
