Elon Musk began to transform the lives of people with serious neurological disorders thanks to his company Neuralink. Two years ago, this entity implemented the first brain chip in the United States after addressing safety concerns raised by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and since then, more than ten people with paralysis have had the chip implemented to control devices with their minds and thus regain some of their mobility. Nevertheless, Neuralink is not the only company that has brain-computer interfaces (BCI, for its acronym in English), since there are other companies such as Paradromics or Starfish Neuroscience that are also testing their chips in humans.
Now, in the middle of this race to develop the best brain chip within the neurological field, China has also received regulatory approval to commercialize its brain-computer interface. The magazine Nature states that said implant is called NEO, it is developed by Neuracle Medical Technology and was authorized by the National Medical Products Administration for help people regain movement in their hands.
But who could benefit from said chip? Nature states that the implant will be available for people between 18 and 60 years old who suffer from paralysis that affects all limbs and is caused by a injury to the cervical area of the spinal cord.
Regarding your surgery, Neuracle Medical Technology explains to Nature that this “medical miracle” is a wireless device from size of a coin which is placed on the external surface of the brain without penetrating the tissue, in this way, once implanted, NEO can read the patient’s neural signals to translate them into hand movements thanks to the eight electrodes that are connected to one side of the brain. Additionally, it is worth mentioning that the signals are sent to a computer for decoding and used to control a glove, allowing people pick up and move objects to perform everyday activities.
First tests and future sale?
“BCI technology is important because there are no effective ways to treat people with spinal cord injuries,” Chen Liang, a neurosurgeon at Huashan University Hospital, told Nature. Therefore, the approval represents a milestone for the field of research in brain-computer interfaces because, looking to the future, could be allowed to be sold.
However, until future commercialization arrives, Liang says that up to 32 people have received the NEO implant to improve grasping movement with the help of a flexible robotic glove.
On the other hand, given this advance by China, Avinash Singh, a researcher in brain-computer interfaces at the University of Technology in Sydney (Australia), wanted to comment to Nature that the chip “seems safe and works”. In addition, it differs from other implants—such as Neuralink—because It is less invasiveTherefore, this could explain why NEO has been approved so quickly, while other brain-computer interfaces are still in clinical trials.
