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According to a report, brain-computer interface (BCI) technology lets patients control software, move objects, interact with AI, and manage digital avatars through speech
Scientists implanted a 256-channel, high-throughput, flexible BCI device into a 21-year-old female patient with epilepsy. (X@PDChina)
China is at the forefront of the technological world, competing with countries like America and Japan. In a remarkable feat, Chinese startup NeuroAccess announced two successful tests on Thursday. The company’s flexible brain-computer interface (BCI) device decoded the thoughts of a patient with a brain injury in real-time. Simultaneously, in a separate trial, the device decoded Chinese speech in real-time.
According to a Xinhua report, BCI technology has enabled patients to control software with their minds, manipulate objects, interact with AI models, and control digital avatars using speech.
World’s first! A Chinese company on Thursday reported two significant clinical-trial milestones: its flexible brain-computer interface (BCI) device successfully decoded the precise intended movements of one patient with a brain injury in real time, and decoded Chinese speech in… pic.twitter.com/dpVGkTdvZa— People’s Daily, China (@PDChina) January 3, 2025
In August 2024, neurosurgeons at Huashan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University implanted a 256-channel, high-throughput, flexible BCI device into a 21-year-old female patient with epilepsy. The device, designed by Shanghai-based NeuroAccess, was implanted to treat a space-occupying lesion in the motor area of the patient’s brain.
According to NeuroAccess, the team extracted electrocorticogram (ECoG) features from the high-gamma band of the patient’s brain signals. They then trained a neural network model to decode these features in real time. This process achieved a system latency of less than 60 milliseconds and facilitated accurate mapping of brain function areas within minutes of surgery.
Clinical Trials on Language
Language is considered the greatest development in human civilisation, representing humanity’s most sophisticated high-level cognitive function. Understanding speech from brain signals represents an exciting frontier in the development of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. In December 2024, a collaborative team conducted the country’s first clinical trial of a high-throughput, flexible BCI for synthesising Chinese speech.
Researchers implanted a 256-channel brain-computer interface (BCI) in a female patient with epilepsy who also had a tumour in the language area of her brain. The patient recovered well and achieved 71% speech decoding accuracy within five days. This accuracy was achieved using a set of 142 common Chinese syllables, with a single-character decoding latency of less than 100 milliseconds.
