“For example, if a patient sees a flame and wants to move away, that ‘wanting’ signal is captured by the chip and converted into a command to move the hand,” he added.
While the foundational BCI research began decades ago in the West, Chinese teams are now rapidly advancing the technology.
In July 2025, Nature reported that “China is rising swiftly in the field of brain-computer interfaces”, with devices that even outperform Elon Musk’s Neuralink project in certain aspects.
“Although China does not have as long a research history in the field as the United States, development is extremely fast,” Qu said, noting China’s advantages in medical infrastructure and its population scale for testing.
Patients’ hopes lifted
The BCI device developed by Shanghai StairMed is particularly remarkable. With 64 electrodes — each only 1 percent of the width of a human hair — it is one of the smallest and least invasive implantable BCIs in the world. The first male recipient has already used it to play chess and video racing games.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 