As a designer, what safety factors must you consider when using Neuralink devices?
The main safety consideration is not with the equipment, but with the robot. We had a small role to play in psychologically transforming their first-generation robot (which was bare steel – you might say it looked pretty ominous) into something more approachable and ready for clinical trials.
We worked with Neuralink’s engineering team to try to design panels (lids or cladding) for the exterior of the robot to start giving it more of a visual language that was simple, approachable, and something you wouldn’t imagine people doing . Being intimidated. Along the way, we started to introduce more design elements where the safety issue was not for the patient, but for the operator.
We thought about things like pinch points. You don’t want people to crush their hands while operating the system. This is Robotics 101. This is a question that every designer designing a robot must consider. These machines are so powerful that when they want to go to a specific place, they go there, and if you get your finger in between where it is and where it’s going, that’s very dangerous.
How have robot designs evolved over time?
Robot design is a highly collaborative process. This is obviously a super complex robot, so our design team worked closely with their mechanical engineers to understand the surgical process.
We’re starting with the part of the robot that has the needles and is actually inserting the nerve wires [which record brain activity], since this is the most sensitive constraint, we work backwards from there. We spent some time with them designing the parts of the robot that interface with your head. We had to understand all the ways to assemble it to mask the existing system beneath it.
We then moved on to the rest of the robot’s body, which we were able to develop in parallel with their in-house electromechanical design team. We were able to order the units to be manufactured and then work with them to assemble them. From there, they took it and did further internal testing.
What interests you about designing neurotech devices?
I’m always inspired by the people working in this space, including founders, scientists, technologists, neuroscientists, and personally the feats of this technology are unlocking big philosophical questions about how the brain works and what it means. , it’s really cool to be human. I think this is so cool.
You’ve worked with other brain device companies. Are there any specific use cases for neurotech that really excite you?
It is encouraging that the field is currently focusing on the most vulnerable. The current focus is on how to help those most in need, such as paralyzed people, and the problem to be solved is very straightforward. I think seeing AI do more work on these problems, having AI solve these very real problems, is what I’m most excited about right now.