116: Chapter 116 Preoperative Discussion

The laboratory lights stayed on late into the night.

The robotic arm prototype lay quietly on the workbench, gleaming with a cold, hard metallic luster.

Three Crab-eating macaques recovering from surgery were in specially made observation cages, occasionally shifting their bodies uneasily; the stumps of their amputated forelimbs were wrapped in thick sterile dressings.

Wang Zhe, Li Wei, and several core Researchers gathered around the workbench, their eyes not on the robotic arm, but on the complex Neuroanatomical diagrams and signal flowcharts on the projection screen.

The preliminary work seemed ready, but the real challenge had only just begun.

"The schedule is too tight."

Engineer Zhao, who was in charge of animal experiments and Neural Interface implantation, was the first to speak, his brow furrowed into a knot.

"What we can do now is, during the surgery, to isolate as many nerve fiber endings as accurately as possible within the nerve bundles of the monkey's amputated limb."

"In terms of quantity... an optimistic estimate is that we can stably connect about a dozen or so."

"But this is far from enough to cover the number of neurons required for the original fine control."

He pointed to the dense nerve bundles on the diagram to illustrate.

"This means we can only simulate very basic and crude neural signal input and output. Don't expect the monkeys to perform any fine movements."

"A dozen... is better than nothing."

Wang Zhe's voice was somewhat raspy, and he rubbed his face vigorously.

"That's all we can do. We'll try our best to keep the surgical difficulty and risks to a minimum. Thank you for your hard work, everyone."

Another problem was immediately brought up by Researcher Sun, who was responsible for collecting and processing neural signals.

"The bigger trouble is that we have no idea which connected nerve fiber originally controlled which specific movement!"

"The monkeys can't talk, so they can't give feedback."

"We might connect a nerve that originally controlled the bending of the pinky finger to the control signal for the robotic arm's thumb. What would that result in?"

He paused, his tone carrying a sense of helplessness.

"It's like a person whose brain wants to move their pinky, but the control signal is mistakenly guided by us to the thumb, so the thumb actually moves. This will cause serious control confusion."

A young Researcher couldn't help but interject.

"Humans aren't born knowing which nerve controls which muscle either; motor memory is established through continuous trial, feedback, and correction. Can we also let the monkeys relearn?"

"Theoretically, yes."

Li Wei took over the conversation, her voice calm, carrying a rationality that cut through the confusion.

"The signal channels we've connected are chaotic."

"The monkey's brain sends a grasping command, which is transmitted to the robotic arm through the nerve fibers we've connected, but the actual movement feedback from the robotic arm will tell the monkey's brain what result that command actually produced."

"Based on this feedback, the brain will constantly adjust and try to establish a new correspondence between neural commands and robotic arm movements."

"This process is about letting the monkey readjust to this chaotic new hand."

She looked at Engineer Zhao and Researcher Sun.

"Therefore, after the connection, we need extensive and repetitive training."

"Let the monkeys try to control the robotic arm and constantly adjust the brain's output based on the results."

"This process takes time—weeks? Maybe even months? It depends on the monkey's learning ability and the effectiveness of our signal feedback."

"Furthermore, the final control precision achieved will certainly be far inferior to that of a natural limb."

The laboratory fell silent for a moment.

This plan of chaotic connection and relearning was full of uncertainty, and time was an even greater luxury.

"We have no choice."

Wang Zhe broke the silence and said.

"We have to connect first and start high-intensity training immediately. We'll solve problems as we go. If the monkeys learn slowly, we'll design more efficient training programs! This is the only path we can take right now."

Another voice spoke up, coming from the Researcher responsible for biomaterial compatibility; her face bore clear signs of worry.

"There is another fatal problem."

"Our artificial Neural Interface materials are foreign."

"Implanting them into the monkey's body will cause an immune rejection response."

"White blood cells will attack these foreign objects, which could lead to interface failure due to inflammation at best, or at worst... the monkey could die from a severe systemic inflammatory response."

"Use Sustained-release agents."

Li Wei answered immediately, having clearly considered this issue long ago.

"Current Immunosuppressant sustained-release technology can be applied locally to suppress the activity of white blood cells in the interface area."

"The dosage and release curve need to be precisely calculated to find a balance between suppressing rejection and avoiding infection caused by excessive immunosuppression."

"We can only do our best to control this risk; it cannot be completely avoided."

Finally, Researcher Sun, who handled the neural signals, looked up and spoke again.

"There's also the issue of signal noise."

"The internal environment of a living organism is complex. The background noise and interference patterns of electrical signals generated by the artificial interface will be very different from what we collected in in-vitro experiments or Bullfrog models."

"This will affect the accuracy of our decoding, which in turn will affect the reliability of the robotic arm's movements."

Just as she finished speaking, Li Wei and Wang Zhe looked at each other and smiled.

They said to Researcher Sun.

"That's not a problem. When the time comes, synchronize and send the raw neural signal data and the robotic arm movement feedback data collected in real-time to both of us."

The two of them seemed to find this problem the easiest, speaking with relaxed expressions.

"We have ways to handle these new noise patterns and optimize the decoding algorithm to ensure the signal is clean and the control is accurate!"

For enlightenment, this kind of signal noise processing and algorithm optimization is basically a piece of cake.

It only needs enough data to distinguish which are the required signals and which are interference.

By writing code, the signal processing chip can solve it directly.

"Are there any other questions?"

Li Wei scanned the room and asked.

This was the final discussion before the surgery. If there were no more questions, the three monkeys would be wheeled onto the operating table.

To undergo the experimental project of unknown duration.

Therefore, all problems must be resolved beforehand; simple issues that can be prevented in advance must not be carried into the engineering phase.

Wang Zhe said in conclusion.

"The problems have been laid out, and the solutions have a general direction. As for the rest—let's begin!"

He looked at the robotic arm on the workbench and the monkeys in the cages.

"According to the plan, we'll divide the work. Surgical preparations start tomorrow morning!"

The three Crab-eating macaques on the workbench looked at everyone ignorantly.

They didn't understand why their arms were gone, much less who had taken them away.

They couldn't understand human language, let alone their future fates.

At this moment, the only thing they might be looking forward to was when their next meal would be delivered.