Chinese startup claims its brain implant takes just 10 minutes to place, no skull surgery required
A Chinese startup says its brain-computer interface can be placed through a vein in as little as ten minutes, skipping the open-skull surgery Neuralink relies on. The catch is that it hasn't reached human trials yet.
A Chinese startup called StairMed Technology claims its brain implant can be inserted in just 10 minutes, bypassing the need for open-skull surgery. The company, based in Shanghai, says its device is threaded through a vein in the neck and navigates the vascular system to reach the brain, according to co-founder Zhao Zhengtuo. Physician Duan Wanru estimates an experienced surgeon could position the implant in under ten minutes, significantly faster than Neuralink's two-hour procedure that involves skull surgery.
StairMed has raised over $163 million in funding, including from Tencent and Alibaba, but so far has only tested the vein-based approach on sheep. Human trials have not yet begun. While Synchron, a US company, has already implanted its Stentrode device in ten patients across trials, StairMed's approach differs by exiting the blood vessel and anchoring outside it.
The market potential is significant, with Morgan Stanley predicting the BCI implant market could reach $80 billion in the US by 2035. China aims to have two or three companies competing globally in this space by 2030. Despite promising speed, StairMed still needs to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of its device and delivery method.
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