Smiriti Malapaty in Nature:
A deep brain device that allowed a man with no limbs to play computer games is one of an increasing number of brain–computer interfaces (BCI) being trialled in people in China. The BCI system, developed by medical-technology company StairMed in Shanghai, China, is similar to the implants being trialled in people by Neuralink, owned by Elon Musk, based in Fremont, California. StairMed’s device has fewer probes than Neuralink’s device has, but is smaller and less invasive.
Compared with the United States, China doesn’t have the long history in the field, and many of the devices being trialled there are simplified versions of those developed by US companies, say researchers. But “BCI research in China is developing very fast”, says Zhengwu Liu, an electrical engineer at the University of Hong Kong. Researchers in China are advancing the field on several fronts, such as by improving algorithms used to decode neural data and the implantation devices, says Christian Herff, a neural engineer at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, who co-organized a meeting on BCI in Shanghai last year.
More here.
Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.