On Saturday local time, Mr. Yao Dezhong, Director of the Sichuan Institute of Brain Science (China), said that China may witness the widespread application of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology in the next 3 to 5 years, as products gradually complete and enter the community service phase.
According to Mr. Yao, China's new policies aimed at promoting the development of BCI technology will not bring immediate changes. However, in the next few years, some products may mature enough to serve the actual needs of the people, especially in the fields of medicine and rehabilitation.
BCI is a technology that allows the human brain to connect directly to computers or electronic devices via nerve signals.
This technology is expected to open up a major step forward in the treatment of neurological diseases, helping patients with paralysis or limb loss to control robotic hands, smart wheelchairs or other assistive devices by thinking.
In the newly announced 5-year plan, Beijing has made BCI a strategic industry of the future, on par with advanced technology fields such as artificial intelligence, 6G communications, quantum technology and nuclear fusion.
China aims to achieve major technical breakthroughs by 2027, while building two to three of the world's leading BCI enterprises by 2030.
Currently, China is the second country in the world to conduct invasive BCI testing on humans, after the US. Chinese scientists plan to recruit more than 50 patients to participate in the test this year.
Recent large-scale tests have yielded positive results. Some patients with paralysis or limb amputation can partially recover their mobility, even control robotic devices through brain signals.
These advances show the great potential of BCI technology in nerve therapy and rehabilitation.
To promote commercialization, China has begun to integrate some BCI treatment methods into the national health insurance system in some pilot provinces.
According to forecasts by CCID Consulting (an information technology consulting company based in Beijing, China), the BCI market in China may reach a scale of 5.58 billion yuan (about 809 million USD) by 2027.
Mr. Yao believes that China has many advantages in this field, including a large population, high treatment demand, a competitively costed industrial chain and abundant human resources in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
However, the big challenge still lies in the gap between scientific research and clinical application. According to him, the process of transitioning from laboratory trials to patient trials is often long and complex.
To solve this problem, many hospitals in China have established specialized BCI research laboratories to shorten the development process.
In the global technology race, American companies like Elon Musk's Neuralink are focusing on chips implanted directly into the brain. Neuralink's surgical robot can implant hundreds of electrodes into the brain in just a few minutes, creating a significant technical advantage.
However, Chinese researchers are developing many different approaches, including invasive BCI, semi-invasive, and non-invasive.
In which, semi-invasive technology, placing devices on the surface of the brain can reduce signal quality but help limit the risk of tissue damage and post-operative complications.
According to experts, if the current research and testing speed is maintained, brain-computer interface technology can soon step out of the laboratory and become a tool to support medicine and technology in everyday life.
