What is Neuralink?

Neuralink is a device,
specifically, a Brain-Machine
Interface, that will be surgically
implanted into your brain and
with it, you’ll be able to
communicate with machines
and even control them.

https://www.cnet.com/news/
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Why Neuralink?

➢ Helps people with severe spinal cord injury by giving them the ability to control computers
and mobile.

➢ Restoring motor and sensory function and the treatment of neurological disorders.

➢ Preserve and enhance your own brain.

➢ Security will be built into every layer of the product, using strong cryptography, defensive
engineering, and extensive security auditing.

➢ You’ll be able to communicate with machines and even control them.

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Overview
➢ The Link processes, stimulates, and transmits
neural signals.

➢ Surgically transplanted inside head.

➢ Micron-scale threads are inserted into areas of

the brain that control movement.

➢ Compact inductive charger wirelessly

connects.

➢ It has potential to treat brain disorders and

other medical problems.
Source: https://neuralink.com/approach/
➢ Give us the power to interact with and control
machines using our minds.
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Electronics
➢ Application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is
used.

➢ A number of ASICs are integrated into a

standard printed circuit board (PCB).

➢ Each system consists of a field-programmable

gate array (FPGA)
○ real-time temperature
○ Accelerometer
○ Magnetometer sensors
○ a single USB-C connector

➢ The systems are packaged in titanium cases

which are coated with parylene-c.
https://Neuralink-White-Paper.pdf
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 Neural Thread
➢ Each small and flexible thread contains many electrodes for
detecting neural signals.

➢ Thread thickness is nominally 4 to 6 µm.

➢ Typical thread length is approximately 20 mm.

➢ The main substrate and dielectric used in these probes is

polyimide.

➢ Each array has 48 or 96 threads, each of those containing 32

independent electrodes.

➢ Metal film are at sub-micron resolution.

Individual electrodes for the thread design

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Working

➢ Principle of Brain Machine Interface.

➢ Neurons communicate with each

other by sending and receiving very
small electrical signals, these signals
can be heard with advanced
electrical sensors.

➢ Signal processing has

○ Preprocessing
○ feature extraction and
○ feature translation.

researchgate.net/Block-diagram-of-a-wireless-BCI-system
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How Neuralink is different from other BMI devices?

➢ There are currently only a few approved

devices for recording or stimulating from
the human brain.

➢ These are designed to modulate the

activity of whole brain areas, not to
transfer information to and from the
brain.

➢ The Link has more electrodes and with

flexible threads.

➢ The Link will also perform real-time spike

detection on every channel.

Deep-Brain-Stimulation
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How is it placed in the body?
➢ A robotic system will be used.

➢ The neurosurgical robot capable of inserting six threads

per minute.

➢ Have an auto-insertion mode feature.

➢ Each thread can be individually inserted into the brain with

micron precision.

➢ The needle is driven by a linear motor allowing variable

insertion speeds and rapid retraction acceleration.

Neuralink-White-Paper
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The Neuralink App
The Neuralink app would allow you to control your iOS
device, keyboard and mouse directly with the activity of
your brain, just by thinking about it.

neuralink.com/approach/ 10
Challenges in making scalable BMI

➢ Scale up the number of electrodes while also building a safe and effective clinical
system that users can take home and operate by themselves.

➢ The threads have to resist corrosion from fluid in the tissue, and the electrodes must
have sufficient surface area to allow stimulation.

➢ Scaling these devices requires on-chip, real-time identification and characterization

of neural spikes.

➢ Design adaptive algorithms that maintain reliable and robust performance.

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Current Status
➢ A monkey has apparently been able to interact
with a computer.

➢ Musk introduced a video of a pig called

Gertrude, who had the chip implanted in her
brain for two months.

➢ It still needs to go through the required

approvals and safety testing before it can be
implanted in humans.

➢ There are obvious concerns about placing

electronics inside people’s heads and there monkey-brain-chip-playing-videogame-thinking
need to be studies looking at the long-term
effects.
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LINK V.0.9

https://www.youtube.com/
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Conclusion

➢ Neuralink has developed advanced solution to existing medical problems.

➢ It will surely create a well aligned future.

➢ Implantation will be done in less than a hour and leave hospital the same
day.

➢ Neuralink is still at an early stage (it’s at version 0.9).

➢ We have no current idea of how much the brain chips will cost.

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References
➢ https://neuralink.com/

➢ https://www.itpro.co.uk/technology/357528/what-is-neuralink

➢ https://medium.com/the-treatise/neuralink-explained-how-exactly-will-we-talk-to-
machines-using-our-brain

➢ https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6204648/Neuralink-White-Paper.pdf

➢ https://www.thedailystar.net/toggle/news/elon-musks-neuralink-shows-monkey-br
ain-chip-playing-videogame-thinking-2075217

➢ https://www.aans.org/en/Patients/Neurosurgical-Conditions-and-Treatments/Deep
-Brain-Stimulation

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THANK YOU!

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