Syringe injectable electronics (2015)
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
The basic TL;DR is that they figured out a thing that works really, really well as a neural implant material (a mesh). They spent a lot of time figuring out the ideal details for this mesh, and a bunch more time looking at how it interacted with the brain.
Here's some TL;DR from the bulk of the paper:
Normal implants have the issue that the don't move the same way as brain tissue, so anything that jostles the brain causes the implant to carve paths through the brain. Since this is a mesh, it moves with the brain.
Injecting a "normal" mesh, you just get a sort of tube of stuff where you injected it. Because of the shape of this mesh, it tries to uncoil; but does so slowly enough that it doesn't damage the brain tissue. One of the major points of the study is the specifics of this mesh (which is basically just an angle).
Because it's a mesh, neurons actually really like growing on it, so they form a bunch of handy connections to it.
One fun thing you can then do is grow brain tissue in the petri dish with the mesh, and you'll get something with real nice connections.
As an aside, this is actually the first paper that I went: "Fuck it, I'm going to read Science"; that it was actually so unexpectedly accessible has started a trend of actually reading the science behind things. I recommend it!
[0] http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/27/15077864/elon-musk-neurali...
I wonder if this is going to help e.g. paralyzed patients to re-wire (some of) their muscles. Will likely help to wire up prosthetic limbs.
(Disclosure: I are software dev and do not know medical anything but can read good, so I just do a lot of that)
Neural implants ALREADY re-wire muscles; more, they can actually stimulate nerve regrowth (you trying to use those paths actually help them recover; Kill Bill style). I don't see this improving that effect, except that it's a better form of implant (less downsides)...
...however, I wouldn't be surprised if it was better enough than existing implants that you can do something new; namely, make artificial nerves to replace damaged ones... and I wouldn't be further surprised if the effects of the mesh act as a scaffold to promote cell regrowth, like the 3D printed organs.
That's just nit-picking about terms though, it is clear enough what you mean - except that growing the exact same network still doesn't give you the exact same synaptic strengths of each connection. And I don't know what you mean by replicating the existing network - do you mean a technique to recreate the exact same neural network? But even if you manage to do that, where are the boundaries, how do you know which connections matter and where do you stop? I probably don't understand your plan though.
Unless of course you get Cultured and put it in place at the embryonic stage, so the brain grows into it.
have an upvote.
/dontexplainthejoke
Other than that they don't exist, you mean?
I'd be far more concerned with other humans messing with it. And before that, just bugs and other damage.