Chinese startup achieves breakthrough in brain-computer interface technology

Chinese startup NeuroXess has reached two significant milestones in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, highlighting its potential to revolutionize both mobility and communication for patients.

The Shanghai-based company's high-throughput flexible BCI device successfully decoded the precise movements of one patient with brain injuries in real time and facilitated real-time Chinese speech decoding for another.

The trials, conducted at Huashan Hospital, affiliated with Fudan University, involved a 21-year-old female patient with epilepsy. She had a lesion in the motor area of her brain, which required the implantation of the advanced BCI device.

Within just 48 hours of surgery, the patient was able to play table tennis and engage in computer games entirely through thought control, without any physical movement.

After two weeks of training, she was able to navigate common smartphone applications like WeChat, the messaging and social media app, and Taobao, the e-commerce platform, as well as operate smart home devices and a wheelchair using only her mind.

Yang Qinrong, head of software and algorithms at NeuroXess, explained the science behind the technology.

"Each brainwave signal corresponds to a discharge from brain cells, and tens of thousands of such discharges combine to form distinct wave patterns. Through complex big data algorithms, we can process such signals to capture and interpret the characteristics of human thought," Yang said.

The BCI technology works by collecting brain signals, converting them into data, and forming corresponding commands. This process requires both precision and rapid response times. Data from the trials show that the synthetic motion delay for the patients was under 60 milliseconds -- close to the reaction speed of a normal person.

For language functions, the decoding delay for a single Chinese character was less than 100 milliseconds, about one-third of the normal speaking speed.

"The Chinese language system includes over 400 commonly used syllables and four tones, along with a large character library. This places higher demands on both our hardware and software. By increasing the number of electrodes from just a few to several hundred, we can effectively tackle this challenge," said Tao Hu, founder of NeuroXess.

The trials have been successful, with more than 40 intraoperative tests and 4 postoperative trials completed so far, all showing positive recovery outcomes.

NeuroXess is now planning to conduct long-term carrier trials and hopes to apply the technology within the next three years, making the technology accessible for broader use.

This breakthrough is set to pave the way for further advancements in BCI applications, offering new therapeutic possibilities for patients with speech or motor function disabilities caused by conditions like ALS, high-level paraplegia, and stroke.

Chinese startup achieves breakthrough in brain-computer interface technology

The halting of Russian gas transit through Ukraine will result in a redoubling of efforts in Europe and Russia to find new supply routes, according to Chinese scholar of international relations.

Ukraine officially stopped the gas flow on Wednesday, following the expiration of a five-year agreement with Russia's gas giant Gazprom on Tuesday. This agreement, signed in December 2019, had allowed Russian gas to continue flowing to Europe through Ukrainian pipelines despite the conflict.

Zhang Xin, associate professor at the School of Politics and International Relations, East China Normal University, said that both sides of the trade relationship will face significant challenges as a result of the development.

"That has been anticipated for long, to essentially undermine Russia's ability to fund its military operation in Ukraine and limit Moscow's ability to use energy as a strategic leverage in Europe. And that's the main purpose. That kind of long term stable energy cooperation is part of economic interdependence between Russia and Europe has now come to an end, at least for the foreseeable future. So that's probably an even bigger loss for Russia as well as for Europe," Zhang said.

Following the halt of Ukraine transit, the TurkStream pipeline under the Black Sea has become the sole remaining route for transporting Russian gas to Europe.

The European Commission says the share of Russian pipeline gas in EU imports has plummeted from over 40 percent in 2021 to about 8 percent in 2023, with Norway and the United States emerging as the new top suppliers.

Amid concerns about supply shortages and soaring energy costs, Zhang predicts that countries will seek new ways to secure alternative transit and import routes for gas, continuing a trend that has emerged from the conflict.

"A larger implication for the geopolitics of energy for Russia, Europe, even for the global energy market probably consists of a few important trends in the foreseeable future. All major actors in Europe in Russia are going to intensify their efforts, double their efforts to look for alternative transit routes, import, export routes for gas as we've already seen in the past few years. But I think efforts along that line will be even intensified," Zhang said.

Ukraine's halting of gas transit impacts Russia's energy leverage on Europe: scholar