China has designed a stunning brain implant to compete with Neuralink

The race for brain implants is on and NEO is joining the competition. The large-scale clinical trial is planned for 2025, although installation only took one hour and forty minutes using an innovative system.

The NEO brain implant is semi-invasive

On its social networks, Shanghai Science & Technology presented its NEO with remarkable results on three patients. It is a brain chip designed by Neuracle Technology and the Tsinghua University biomedical engineering team led by Hong-Bo. The semi-invasive implant was notably placed in a 38-year-old patient in Shanghai who had lost his mobility and the use of his hands following a car accident.

The device, the size of a coin, collects neural signals from sensory and motor areas of the brain. Power and signal transmission are provided by an external magnetic coil connected via the scalp.

While Neuralink places the chips directly in the brain, NEO uses a semi-invasive approach: the electrodes are positioned outside the cerebral cortex to avoid direct contact with brain tissue.
“The results are even better than we expected” says Mao Ying, member of the implementation team and director of the National Center for Neurological Disorders and Huashan Hospital. Using a prosthetic glove, the patient controls brain signals to perform everyday tasks like grabbing a glass of water, unscrewing a bottle cap and drinking.

NEO had already proven its effectiveness during two previous operations in Beijing in 2023. Paralyzed patients were able to move a PC cursor and drink water completely independently.

In August 2024, NEO became the first BCI to enter China's “green channel”, the special approval of medical devices with clinical availability planned for 2027.

A large-scale clinical trial in 2025

As for the clinical trial for 2025, at least thirty implantations will take place in China. The announcement was made during a meeting between the BCI Society and the Chen Institute in Shanghai.

Tao Hu, deputy director of the Shanghai Institute of Microsystems and Information Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, explains that “BCI is a convergence of artificial intelligence, integrated circuits and biomedical technology. As an emerging industry, it still requires concentrated investment of various resources.”