Govind Tekale
Daily, the world is witnessing new advancements in science and technology. Today’s news is that Elon Musk‘s startup has implanted a brain chip in the first human. The first human patient has received an implant from the brain-chip startup Neuralink Sunday. The patient is recovering well.
The billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX said Monday the first product was called Telepathy. It will allow a human to control a phone or computer just by thinking. Neuralink received approval for recruitment for the human trial from the US FDA. The startup’s Prime study is a trial for its wireless brain-computer interface (BCI) to evaluate the safety of the implant and surgical robot.
The device, a small chip known as ‘Link,’ was surgically implanted in the skull. It has thin wires. The electrodes at the tips of these wires detect signals from the brain. The device decodes these signals to interpret. The device then transmits this data wirelessly to an external computer. The external device could use these decoded signals for various applications. The system could provide sensory feedback to the brain. Over time, the system’s algorithms would learn and adapt to the individual’s brain patterns.
Musk’s ‘Telepathy’ can make living easier for many. According to Dr. Kameshwar Prasad of AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences), one of the things that Neuralink’s BCI does is that it establishes communication wirelessly and, thus, enables paralyzed people to perform basic functions like controlling movements with their thoughts using mobile devices.
The ‘Telepathy’ can help cure motor neuron diseases, Parkinson’s disease, brain injuries, epilepsy, depression, blindness, deafness, and chronic pain. It is possible to control devices like a mobile phone or collaborate on creative projects in real-time through a shared neural network, which seems like fiction now.
But Neuralink’s first human brain chip implant can herald a revolution. Thoughts can become actions. Neuro diseases can be controlled. But with a chip inside humans, who will have access to data that defines what we think and who we are? That question can be answered only in the future. At present, Musk’s ‘Telepathy’ has given hopes to millions of people who are suffering due to neurological disorders!
