China’s brain-computer interfaces (BCI) development has gained marked progress, according to an industry insider, as domestic firms continue to churn out products and services in the emerging field that could be worth of trillions of dollars over coming decades.
China’s brain-computer interfaces (BCI) development has gained marked progress, according to an industry insider, as domestic firms continue to churn out products and services in the emerging field that could be worth of trillions of dollars over coming decades.
BCI is a relatively novel term and most of the people probably learned about it from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who co-founded San Francisco-based Neuralink, which develops implantable BCI.
Globally, there are a number of frontrunners in the sector. In July, New York-based Synchron announced the first human BCI implant in the US, making a “milestone” for scalable BCI devices, according to media reports.
However, Chinese companies are also relatively advanced, with several noteworthy achievements already being publically disclosed.
In mid-November, a group of scientists unveiled a software system called MetaBCI – China’s first open-source software platform for BCI research. The project was developed by Tianjin University in partnership with two firms.
The Python-based, internally developed software platform provides one-stop information processing support for BCI research, encompassing functions that would otherwise require a number of software programs that each focuses on one step of the interactive process, such as stimulation demonstration and data processing to executive, and facilitates the multi-party cooperation in this field.
The software platform’s whole-of-process approach could help save research dollars and accelerate the commercialization process, said Xu Minpeng, technical director of the MetaBCI project and vice dean of the Academy of Medical Engineering and Translational Medicine in Tianjin University, adding that global BCI technology development has entered an explosive period in which the technology is being integrated into real world scenarios.
The development at MetaBCI is coupled by other companies in the emerging field.
In September, NeuroXess, a Shanghai-based life science company focusing on flexible electrode BCI technologies, announced what it claimed to be the nation’s first medical-grade minimally invasive implant, the Shanghai Observer reported.
Moreover, the company said it has been conducting clinical application tests for patients with major neurological diseases such as high paraplegia and ablepsia at some hospitals in Shanghai, according to the report.
In January, the Chinese BCI start-up said it has raised 97 million yuan ($15.2 million) in funding from major investors Shanda Group and Sequoia Capital.
Besides invasive implants, progress has also been made using other approaches.
At Tianjin University, scientists have developed rehabilitation robots empowered by BCI technology to help stroke victims regain motion functionality. “Certain products have entered the industrialization phase,” Xu said.
Chinese research institutes have churned out non-invasive specialized BCI chips for computers and signal collection systems. Some brain electrical signal collection systems have obtained registration certificates as approved medical devices from the national regulator, Xu said.
Originally published at Global Times