Elon Musk Advances AI with New Neurological Device

While the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine isn't new, Elon Musk and his team at Neuralink Corporation invented a microchip that could fix a variety of neurological issues, including Parkinson’s disease. The implications of this new technology have the potential to revolutionize the medical field.

The device is a 4 mm chip that is implanted inside the brain and uses flexible electrodes to track spikes in the brain.

According to the MassDevice Life Sciences Network, massdevice.com, the FDA granted Neuralink breakthrough device designation in July 2020, and clinical trials could follow after further development. Musk said the company would have to “significantly exceed” guidelines to get full FDA approval.

Trinity Packard from Slatington, PA, who will study physics at LCCC, is excited about the potential for Neuralink from a professional and personal standpoint.

“This is a technology that actually can even help myself,” said Packard. “I have two neurological diseases called Chiari Malformation and Syringomyelia. This device could one day cure myself and many others struggling on a day-to-day basis.”

The Neuralink website, neuralink.com, shows how the device works and describes the company’s approach to helping people with neurological diseases. According to the site, the initial goal of their technology is to “reduce or eliminate the pathological patterns of activity that occur in neurological disorders.”

Overall, this device will influence how AI is used in the neurology field and has the potential to change the scope of medicine.