China becomes second country after the United States to successfully conduct clinical trials to implant a brain-computer interface in amputee patients
Chinese researchers have announced that they have successfully completed clinical trials of an invasive brain-computer interface (BCI), an interface for connecting the human brain to a computer. China is the second country after the United States to have successfully developed this technology, which involves implanting an implant directly into the brain.
China Focus: Chinese research team launches clinical trial for invasive brain-computer interface-Xinhua
China's first invasive brain-computer interface clinical trial launched, achieving positive results - Global Times
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202506/1336164.shtml
According to the Global Times , the Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology (CEBSIT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai and Huashan Hospital of Fudan University have jointly implanted China's first BCI into a patient who had lost limbs in an accident, and the test has been successfully completed.
According to a statement from CEBSIT, after two to three weeks of training, the patient was able to skillfully control games such as racing games and chess simply by thinking about them.
Clinical trials of implanting BCIs in humans are already underway in the U.S., conducted by companies such as Neuralink and Paradromics , and Neuralink patients are reportedly able to play Mario Kart just by thinking about it.
A quadriplegic patient who underwent Neuralink's brain implant surgery reported 100 days after the operation that he was able to play games such as Mario Kart just by thinking about them - GIGAZINE
The device used in the Chinese trials is the world's smallest, measuring just 26mm in diameter and less than 6mm thick, and is said to be more than 100 times more flexible than Neuralink's device.
The patient in the clinical trial had lost all four limbs in a high-voltage electrical accident in 2012. After the trial, the patient said, 'I can now control a computer with my thoughts. It's like I can move it of my own volition.'
The implantation surgery itself was performed in March 2025, and since then it has continued to function stably for three months, with no reports of infection or equipment failure.
According to CEBSIT, BCI systems like the one used this time are expected to be approved by Chinese regulatory authorities and launched on the market by 2028. The National Health Administration of China has already established guidelines related to 'neurological medical services' and is steadily preparing by specifying detailed prices such as the implantation and removal fees of invasive BCI.
The research team plans to equip patients with robotic arms so they can grasp and hold objects.
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