Musk announced on social networking platform X that the first human being received an implant from the brain-computer interface company Neuralink is recovering well.
The Zhitong Finance App learned that on January 30, Beijing time, Musk announced on social networking platform X that yesterday, the first case of a human receiving an implant from the brain-computer interface company Neuralink has recovered well. Preliminary results show good prospects for neuronal spike detection. University of New South Wales (UNSW) biomedical engineering expert Mohit Shivdasani has stated bluntly before that it is expected that by 2040, human access to “brain-computer chips” will be very common.
According to Musk, Neuralink is designing a device that converts brain signals into action. It will first focus on two applications: one is to restore human eyesight, and the other is to help people who are unable to move muscles control devices such as smartphones, and even restore the whole body function of people with spinal cord damage.
Musk said, “By simply using their mind, people can control their phones or computers and control almost any device through them. The first users will be those who have lost physical function. Imagine what would happen if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a typist or auctioneer? That's our goal.”
According to reports, in May of last year, Neuralink obtained approval for human clinical trials from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In September of the same year, the company announced its first brain-computer interface human experiment. Earlier, it was reported that thousands of people are already queuing up to implant Neuralink's brain implants.
Neuralink said last year that it is expected to perform 11 formal surgeries in 2024, and it is expected that more than 22,000 people may be operated on by 2030. Neuralink's target diseases include physical paralysis, paraplegia, hearing loss, major amputations, and cataracts. The company estimates that each operation will cost 10,000 US dollars, and the annual revenue is expected to reach 100 million US dollars within five years.
Industry insiders said that medical treatment may be the main application field for future brain-computer interfaces. According to incomplete statistics, the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease among the corresponding population in our country is 6%. The number of patients with depression and anxiety disorders is huge, and it is growing rapidly as the degree of aging increases. In addition to this, research on brain-computer interface technology is also being carried out in the metaverse field. Like VR glasses, brain-computer interfaces can be used as an entrance to link to virtual spaces to achieve entertainment human-computer interaction.
CITIC Construction Investment believes that communication methods between humans and artificial intelligence are constantly being upgraded, and brain-computer interface technology is breaking through human physiological boundaries, not only providing unprecedented possibilities for people with disabilities, but is also expected to become the next generation of human-computer interaction. Research institutes estimate that the brain-computer interface-related market will reach 70 billion US dollars to 200 billion US dollars between 2030 and 2040.
According to the Minsheng Securities Research Report, as an emerging industry, brain-computer interface technology is mainly divided into hardware layer and software layer. The hardware layer includes an EEG acquisition device and an external control device. EEG acquisition equipment includes core components and devices, electrodes, BIC chips, power supplies and materials; external control external equipment includes robotic arms, bionic hands, drones, etc. The software layer includes biosignal analysis, core algorithms, communication computing, and security privacy. It is recommended to focus on Oriental Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing Panda, Dinaike, New Intelligence, Iwayama Technology, Innovative Healthcare, Linsheng Technology, Xiangyu Healthcare, Boji Pharmaceuticals, etc.
Related concept stocks:
Xinwei Medical-B (06609): On June 25 of last year, the first domestic interventional brain-computer interface independently developed by China successfully completed animal testing in Beijing. The interventional brain-computer interface was jointly developed by Duan Feng's research team, a professor at the School of Artificial Intelligence at Nankai University, and Xinwei Medical.
Alibaba (09988): Ali announced a black technology at the Taobao Creation Festival — Taobao Idea Shopping, which means Taobao will officially enter the field of brain-computer interfaces. According to reports, Ali has submitted patents related to brain computers. Relevant personnel said that Taobao is currently cooperating with a company incubated by Tsinghua University that specializes in brain-computer interfaces and is exploring the implementation of software for brain-computer interface technology.
Nanjing Panda Electronics Co., Ltd. (00553): In June of last year, the company stated on the investor interactive platform in response to the development progress of the two projects “Research and development of key technologies for multi-modal human-computer interaction system integration based on brain-computer interface technology” and “digital twin emergency warning system key technology research and development for accurate monitoring of optical cables” that the brain-computer interface R&D project was jointly declared by the company, relevant universities, and the Suzhou Brain-based Research Institute. Currently, the project is still in the initial research stage.