A group of Chinese scientists has achieved the first interventional brain-computer interface (BCI) experiment in non-human primates in which they managed to get a monkey to control a mechanical arm.
The experiment was carried out this Thursday in Beijing, the capital of the Asian giant, by a team led by Professor Duan Feng, from Nankai University, in collaboration with the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army of China and Shanghai HeartCare Medical. Technology, a company dedicated to the development of neurointerventional medical devices, the state news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday.
Researchers implanted an interventional EEG into the cerebrovascular wall of a monkey using minimally invasive surgery. Using electroencephalogram (EEG) signals extracted from the monkey's brain, they managed to get it to actively control a mechanical arm.
According to Professor Duan, this experiment represents a breakthrough in brain science research and China's EEG signal technologies from passive to active. It also brings innovations in EEG collection in blood vessels and the identification of this process in an interventionist way.
The experiment shows that China's BCI technology has reached a world-leading level, and that it can compete with the United States in this emerging and strategic sector.
A manager of a Chinese device company BCI, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the official Global Times newspaper on Friday that the United States, represented by the technology company Neuralink founded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has a clear advantage in invasive BCI technology thanks to early development.
For its part, China excels in non-invasive technology, as it is a forerunner in decoding and applications of brain-computer systems.
