China races to develop brain-computer interfaces that can be inserted in 10 minutes
Chinese start-ups and researchers are racing to bring brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) to market that can be implanted in just a few minutes, as Beijing pushes to nurture home-grown players in the sector to compete with Elon Musk’s Neuralink. The Chinese devices – which enable patients to control digital technology using their thoughts alone – can be inserted via a vein like a stent, unlike…
Chinese entrepreneurs and scientists are in a rush to develop brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that can be quickly implanted, as Beijing aims to cultivate homegrown companies to compete with Elon Musk's Neuralink. These innovative BCIs enable patients to control digital devices using their thoughts without undergoing brain surgery.
Instead, they are inserted via a vein, similar to a stent, through the neck and guided directly into the brain. StairMed Technology, a Shanghai-based start-up, is leading this effort and has secured over 1.1 billion yuan (US$163 million) in funding from investors like Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group Holding. In December, the company revealed plans, in collaboration with a research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, to implant BCIs through blood vessels into a specific brain region and secure them outside the vessel wall.
The technology has been tested on sheep, but human trials have not yet begun. The global BCI implant device market is expected to reach US$80 billion in the United States alone by 2035. China has set a goal to have "two or three" global leaders in the sector by 2030. Experienced surgeons can insert the device within 10 minutes, significantly reducing the risks associated with traditional brain surgery.
Duan Wanru, a chief physician at Xuanwu Hospital, stated that a surgeon with four or five years of experience can position the device in as little as 10 minutes. Xuanwu Hospital has already initiated human clinical trials for the vascular approach. In 2023, Nankai University in China completed the world's first human trial of a BCI implanted via blood vessels.
China is not alone in pursuing this technology; Synchron, a start-up, implanted BCIs on 10 patients via their jugular veins in Australia and the United States in 2023. StairMed's Zhao highlighted that patients with BCIs implanted through this method can now control their thoughts to perform tasks, such as helping paraplegics earn a monthly income on the Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com.
Written by urgent.news from SCMP Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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