The neurosurgeon and co-founder of Elon Musk’s biotech company Neuralink said he left the seven-year-old company because he felt there was a safer way to connect the human brain to computers.
“I’ve spent almost my entire career trying to bring neural interfaces from scientific research to medical practice,” Dr. Benjamin Rapoport said in a recent Wall Street Journal podcast. “But I think safety is a critical factor in really crossing over into the realm of medicine and technology.”
Neuralink's approach to brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) requires inserting many electrodes into brain tissue, which Rapoport said poses unnecessary risks to patients.
“The downside of these (electrodes) is that they cause some brain damage when they’re inserted into the brain,” he explained. “I think it’s possible to extract rich data information from the brain without damaging the brain.”
Rapoport has since founded his own company, Precision Neuroscience, hoping to achieve equivalent results by using noninvasive techniques.
Neuralink's handling of early test subjects has raised alarms not only within the company but also outside the company. During 2021 and 2022, inspectors from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviewed Neuralink's California laboratory and expressed serious concerns about the laboratory's shortcomings in animal welfare management.
Additionally, Neuralink has killed about 1,500 animals since 2018 in its attempts to successfully connect brain-to-computer interfaces, according to company records reviewed by Reuters.
Despite these concerns, Neuralink received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin human trials and began actively recruiting human trial subjects in late September. Neuralink reported in January that it had implanted a chip in the first living human subject.
The patient reportedly remains healthy and has not experienced adverse reactions, but experts from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine have urged Neuralink to cease all animal and human experiments and focus instead on the development of non-invasive brain-computer interfaces.
The battle for brain supremacy
Precision Neuroscience, which was founded by Rapoport after leaving Neuralink in 2021, focuses on using surface microelectrode technology that does not penetrate the brain but only covers the surface of the brain.
“For medical devices, safety often means being as least invasive as possible,” Rapoport said. “In the early days of brain-computer interface technology, there was a common view that in order to get information-rich data from the brain, you had to penetrate the brain with electrodes like tiny needles.”
That is no longer the case, he added, outlining his new company’s approach.
“At Precision Neuroscience, the physical interface with the brain is designed as a thin membrane that is about a quarter the width of a human eyelash and is able to conform to the uneven curves of the brain’s surface,” Rapoport explained in the podcast. “Embedded within this membrane are tiny platinum microelectrodes, each of which is comparable in size to a single neuron.”
The electrodes, arranged in a grid pattern on the surface of the brain, detect electrical signals while filtering out noise, he said. The data is then compressed, transmitted externally and converted into understandable form by machine learning software calibrated to each person's unique brain signals.
Rappoport asserts that while Neuralink’s approach may provide access to greater neural data, Precision Neuroscience’s approach may reduce the risks associated with invasive procedures.
The two-time neurotech founder said he is optimistic about the overall potential of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), calling them "platform technologies" that will enable new applications in different fields as the interface technology improves. Rappoport believes that in the next few years, BCIs will begin to become more common among medical patients, and may eventually change the way healthy people interact with computers, too.
He said, "We believe that with the help of brain-computer interface technology, smooth and intuitive operation will be achieved in the future, which will enable people with disabilities to type, make PowerPoint presentations, use Excel spreadsheets, browse the Internet, send emails, etc., completing all tasks that ordinary workers can complete, and may even do better in some aspects."
However, like any breakthrough medical technology, the promise of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology comes at a high cost, which Rappoport explains stems primarily from the extensive research and development required to implement these procedures safely and effectively.
Despite the challenges, we should not rule out the possibility that these enhancement technologies may become widely available in the future. He also mentioned that Precision Neuroscience is committed to making its technology as accessible as possible, and in the process, the company will adhere to its ethical principles and not lose its way.
He concluded by stressing: “It is very important for us to make this technology accessible and affordable. We are committed to ensuring that cost is not a barrier to adoption.” #Neuralink #脑机接口
