![]() ![]() We are trying to reduce that risk by using micron-scale threads, inserted with a needle whose diameter is about the size of many neurons in the brain. Inserting a device into the brain always carries some risk of bleeding. ![]() Combined with other advancements in robotic surgical tooling, this may allow us to eliminate general anesthesia and to implant the device under conscious sedation. Also, the robot is being designed to insert threads through a hole in the skull as small as 23 mm diameter. The Neurosurgical Robot is capable of efficient and reliable electrode insertion. There is always risk associated with general anesthesia, and that risk is reduced by shortening the time of the procedure. In particular, the Link includes technical innovations for improving the safety of the surgical procedure compared to existing BMI devices or traditional neurosurgery. But safety has been at the core of the design process. We have not yet begun clinical trials, and so we do not have safety data in humans. These include restoring motor and sensory function and the treatment of neurological disorders. ![]() There are many other potential future applications for the Link. We expect our first application to be computer control for people with spinal cord injury. Later, as users get more practice and our adaptive decoding algorithms continue to improve, we expect that users would be able to control multiple devices, including a keyboard or a game controller. ![]() Users would initially learn to control a virtual mouse. As users think about moving their arms or hands, we would decode those intentions, which would be sent over Bluetooth to the user’s computer. We would start by recording neural activity in the brain’s movement areas. As a first application of this technology, we plan to help people with severe spinal cord injury by giving them the ability to control computers and mobile devices directly with their brains. It will be able to record the activity of these neurons, process these signals in real time, and send that information to the Link. We are designing the Link to connect to thousands of neurons in the brain. ![]()
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