Local startup releases BCI products for medical use

Zhu Shenshen / SHINE

A group of brain computer interface, or BCI, products, regarded as Chinese counterparts of the Elon Musk-supported Neuralink innovation, debuted at the ongoing World Artificial International Conference (WAIC) on Friday.

NeuroXess, a Shanghai-based brain science startup, released its first BCI products for medical use, a high-frequency signal processor and related artificial intelligence algorithm-featured cloud platform.

The new products fill a market gap in China and will be used to find cures for things like ALS, high paraplegia and blindness, said Peng Lei, founder and chief executive of NeuroXess, which means "brain tiger" in Chinese.

Brain science, besides medical and research values, will create deep man-machine interfaces seen in films like The Matrix, in about a decade, Peng told the WAIC's Brain Computer Intelligent Fusion-In Brain to Future Forum.

Brain-computer integration is one of the most active research directions in the field of brain science and AI, experts and doctors told the forum.

The brain-computer interface is an international disruptive technology that has important research significance and huge application potential in the fields of neurological-disease diagnosis and treatment and intelligent robots, said Hu Jinbo, dean of the Chinese Academy of Science Shanghai branch.

Mao Ying, dean of Huashan Hospital, said the local hospital has partnered with NeuroXess on BCI applications in brain surgery and research.

Neuralink, co-founded by Musk and other investors, has developed a sewing machine-like device capable of implanting threads into the brain. The device was reported to enable a monkey to play video games.

Different from "sewing machine" technologies, NeuroXess found a new "silk protein" material with soft features that avoids damaging blood vessels, Peng said.

During WAIC, NeuroXess joined with firms including UCloud and MetaX to establish an AI, cloud computing and metaverse alliance.