The brain-computer revolution unfolds

Perhaps she never imagined that one day she would be able to communicate with others in this way. As a 43-year-old epilepsy patient hospitalized at Huashan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University, who asked to remain anonymous, with a brain tumor in the language area, she can now simply conceive the words she wants to say and the actions she wants to take in her mind, and through computer decoding, make them a reality.

This marks a major advancement in a collaborative brain-computer interface (BCI) technology project between NeuroXess, a Shanghai-based life science company focusing on flexible electrode BCI technologies, and Huashan Hospital.

With ongoing technical progress, goals like controlling actions and speech through thought are gradually becoming a reality in China.

Technological breakthroughs

In 2024, multiple clinical trials based on partially-invasive and invasive BCI technologies were conducted in China.

Based on real-time Chinese decoding, the patient mentioned above was able to synthesize Chinese speech through thoughts, drive digital avatar, interact with large language models, as well as convert language neural signals into commands to control dexterous robotic hands in real-time, Global Times learned from NeuroXess.

NeuroXess said that just two days after the surgery, the patient began training and, within seven days, attained a 71 percent accuracy in decoding 142 commonly used Chinese syllables, and demonstrated a delay of under 100 milliseconds for single-character decoding.

In December 2024, Hong Bo, a professor from the School of Medicine at Tsinghua University told Global Times that their partially invasive BCI device, NEO, would begin large-scale clinical trials in 2025, intended to recruit 30-50 patients suffering spinal injury for implantation. After completing these surgeries, the team plans to seek regulatory approval for market launch.

The development of technology has facilitated the layout of industries. At the beginning of 2025, tech departments in cities like Beijing and Shanghai have been actively releasing action plans for the development of BCI technology, focusing on regulatory policies, clinical trials, and industrial chain development, CCTV reported on January 14.

Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission aims to break through key technologies by 2027, and by 2030, the BCI ecosystem will be in its early stages. Similarly, the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality focuses on medical-grade applications and strategic products, primarily promoting the deployment of invasive and partially invasive BCI technologies.

Partially-invasive and invasive BCI technologies, due to their closer proximity to neurons, offer better spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratios, said Zhou Zhitao, Professor at the Shanghai Institute of Microsystems and Information Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, to the Global Times.

"These paths are primarily used in serious medical fields, treating neuro-diseases that conventional medical methods cannot address, such as motor or speech disorders, helping patients regain basic life functions and improve their quality of life," Zhou said.

"Currently, the most likely scenario for large-scale application of BCI technology in China is for the treatment of neurological diseases after obtaining medical device registration. Neurological diseases often come with impaired functions, with the most common being motion and speech dysfunctions," Zhou said.

"In China, there are about 20 million patients with motor dysfunction and around 5.8 million with speech dysfunction. Once BCI receives medical device certification, it can serve this population," he added.

Ethical challenges

At the same time, experts emphasized to the Global Times that BCI technology is still in its early stages and faces numerous challenges. It needs constant adjustments and balancing to ensure that the technology minimizes harm to patients and improves practical application outcomes.

Zhou mentioned two key challenges for the future. "One is how to quickly obtain medical device approval and conduct large-scale clinical trials to serve more people in need. The other is how to address privacy protection and medical ethics issues after large-scale BCI trials."

Professor Mao Ying, president of Huashan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University, also emphasized to the Global Times the importance of the second challenge. "Although BCI technology offers great rehabilitation opportunities for patients, we must remain cautious. If patients' brain data is not properly handled, it may lead to severe privacy leakage risks," Mao said.

Additionally, Mao stressed that medical ethics demand that any innovative technology and clinical trial must adhere to the fundamental principle of "do no harm to patients." "Clinical research on high-precision technologies like BCI is not something that can be rapidly scaled up. In surgical practice, we need to continuously make precise pioneering efforts, and then keep refining and improving. If expectations are too high, patients may ultimately be disappointed, which could even cause psychological harm," he said.

Besides suggesting the establishment of a regulatory mechanism for medical ethics, Mao also pointed out that public acceptance and understanding of this technology need to improve gradually to better promote its widespread use.

"Currently, BCI technology is mainly focused on treating clinical diseases, especially for patients with lost neural functions. Some people expect it to significantly enhance brain functions or replace traditional learning methods, however, BCI's clinical applications are still in the early stages, and there is a long way to go before full development is achieved."

"China, along with other major countries like the US, has the ability to integrate industrial chains and drive scientific research. China should actively participate in this field, maintaining its leading advantage and taking on the responsibility for technological development," Mao said. "Our current start is good. If we don't try, we'll never reach the goal."