The Neuralink brain-computer interface has now been implanted into quite a few patients, and its abilities have wowed the world. But something that seems to have escaped notice of most people is that Neuralink is ultimately an electronic device, and like other electronic devices, also needs to be regularly charged.
Neuralink’s 7th patient, Jake Schneider, has shared pictures of his Neuralink device being charged. “Some charge their car, I charge my brain,” Schneider posted on X. “This is what charging my #Neuralink brain inplant looks like! A disc slides into the beanie that plugs into the rechargeable silver base. I just sit back and relax!” he added. Schneider said that the device took 45 minutes to an hour to charge, and the charge lasted him all day. He added that the charge lasted based on how much it was used, much like with mobile phones.
The accompanying picture showed Schneider sitting with a cap on, and a wire emerging from under it. The wire was connected to a square device with a prominent circular indentation. The empty circular enclosure was glowing a dim green, and the circular disc which presumably normally resides where the indentation was had been carefully inserted under the cap.
The Neuralink implant is charged wirelessly through inductive charging, similar to how some cell phones are charged. The implant contains a small battery, along with custom-designed low-power chips and electronics that manage the charging and wireless data transmission. An external charger, designed for convenience and ease of use, is placed near the implant site to initiate the charging process. Strict regulations govern the charging process to ensure that the temperature doesn’t increase by more than 2 degrees Celsius, a safety measure to prevent potential harm — a rise in temperature greater than this could damage the brain tissues surrounding the implant. The design reportedly incorporates features like a ferrite shield to concentrate the magnetic field and prevent inefficiencies and overheating.
Neuralink enables patients with the implant to control electronic devices with just their minds. The implant is inserted into the brain, where it picks up brain signals. These signals are then converted into electronic signals, which are transmitted to devices via Bluetooth to control them — Neuralink patients can type and draw on their computers using only their minds. Thus far, the device has only been implanted into patients with injuries or other conditions that don’t allow them regular use of their limbs, but going forward, Neuralink intends to implant the device into healthy people to help them control all kinds of technologies with just their minds. And while all this feels miraculous, it does come with the mundane — like other electronics, Neuralink devices too have to be regularly charged to keep them humming along as usual.