After launching Depseek, the free and equally efficient opponent as Chatgpt, China has shown that it is a firm and strong commitment for technologies of the future. And he is not afraid to face whoever. Even one of the most powerful names (and men): Elon Musk. And he created Its own and improved, alternative to Neuralink. It is a device, more precisely a brain-routing interface (ICC) that allowed a man without limbs playing video games.
The ICC system, developed by the Stairmed Medical Technology company in Shanghai, China, is similar to the implants that Neuralink, owned by Elon Musk, is testing in humans. Stairmed’s device has less probes than Neuralink’s, is smaller and less invasive.
“Research in China linked to ICC is progressing very fast – says Zhengwu Liu, an electrical engineer at Hong Kong University -. This field is being promoted on several fronts, such as the improvement of the algorithms used to decode neuronal data and implantation devices”
The Chinese government has identified the brain-computer systems as a priority innovation area, and financing agencies are investing funds in this field. The country too It has the medical infrastructure and the population necessary to test and validate technologies.
As in the case of Neuralink, investigations maintain a high dose of secrecy and only the results are published. A brain-computer device that is being tested in people is A minimally invasive wireless device called NEO, which can restore the movement of the hand in a person with paralysis using a pneumatic glove. Eight probes are placed in the dura, the outer membrane that surrounds the brain.
“The first person who received the device, in October 2023, He managed to strengthen and accelerate his grip, and now, after living with him for 20 months, You can use it to eat and drink – Hong Bo statesBiomedical Engineer of the University of Tsinghua in Beijing, who co -direct the essay published in Nature -. So far, 20 people have received the neo implant. ”
Since technology collects information about a large population of cells, the resolution of its signal is not as high as that of the deepest probes that record the activity of individual neurons. This makes the focus more appropriate to control simple movements. But Hong states that The disadvantage in terms of performance is that the device is minimally invasive and can work for a long time.
In the study, the Hong team describes the use of efficient neuromorphic chips, instead of conventional silicon chips, to imitate the way the brain decodes brain signals. This would allow them integrate the chip into the probe itself and make the device smallerconsume less energy and process the information more quickly.
Another team has deepened a little more in the brain. Shanghai neurosurgeons They implemented a device with 256 probes on the neuronal cortex of a woman with epilepsy. After two weeks of practice, he could use the device, designed by Neuroxess, BCI company based in Shanghai, PARA use social media applications and control a wheelchair.
The same team surgically implanted probes in a woman with epilepsy that had a tumor in the part of the brain that processes the language. The recipient used the device for communicate in Mandarin at a speed of 50 words per minute with a delay of 100 milliseconds. This is the first time that a BCI technology is used to decode Mandarin in real time.
An average person can speak at a speed of 150 words per minuteso “there is still a lot of improvement,” says the study.
“Technology is still in its early stages – concludes ZHENGTUO ZHAOfrom the Shanghai Institute of Neurosciences –but so far, Implants have provided its users a good control of the electronic device”
In the long term, the objective is to merge BCI technologies with more intelligent systems than people Not only do they use to control the cursor of a computer, but also smart wheelchairs and advanced robotsan area in which China could have a global advantage.