After Musk's Announcement, Chinese Researchers Also "Implant Wireless Computer Device in Brain"

Clinical Trial Footage and Progress Revealed
"Self-assessed Superior to Neuralink"

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, announced that he has begun clinical trials implanting computer chips into the human brain, and Chinese researchers also revealed that they are conducting similar research.

Announcement by Musk Followed by Chinese Disclosure 8 Hours Later... Patient with Spinal Cord Injury Regained Partial Hand Movement Three Months After Implantation on October 24 Last Year

The first NEO transplant patient revealed by Tsinghua University in China. A patient with spinal cord injury is holding a water bottle using a prosthetic arm. [Image source= Screenshot from Hong Kong Ming Pao]

On the 1st, Hong Kong Ming Pao and the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that researchers from Tsinghua University in China announced on the university’s website and WeChat account on the 30th of last month that they had developed a wireless brain-computer interface (BCI) implant called the Neural Electronic Opportunity (NEO) and achieved groundbreaking progress after implanting it in their first patient.

The announcement by Tsinghua University researchers came just eight hours after Musk posted on X (formerly Twitter) on the 29th of last month (local time) that his brain neuroscience startup Neuralink had begun clinical trials implanting computer chips into the human brain, and that the first patient had received the implant from Neuralink yesterday and was recovering well, according to local media.

The Tsinghua University team explained, "A patient who suffered paralysis of all limbs due to a spinal cord injury from a traffic accident 14 years ago received the NEO implant on October 24 last year. After three months of home rehabilitation therapy, the patient was able to grasp objects with a prosthetic hand," adding, "The patient can now eat and drink independently." They expressed hope that "with continued rehabilitation and advancements in machine learning algorithms, this patient will be able to recover various hand functions."

Tsinghua Researchers Claim "NEO Is Less Invasive Than Neuralink and Supports Wireless Charging"

Neuralink by Elon Musk.
Photo by St Vincent Times

The researchers also stated, "NEO is wirelessly recharged remotely using nearby wireless power through a high-frequency antenna without a battery." They praised their work by saying, "NEO is less invasive than the Neuralink chip and has achieved results without risking neuron damage." They added, "NEO is the size of two coins and is designed to be mounted on the skull rather than directly implanted into neural tissue." Neuralink’s chip is known to be directly implanted into brain tissue.

BCI is a device that directly transmits electrical activity information from the brain to a computer, helping people with physical disabilities control various devices by thought alone. The researchers said, "BCI can assist patients with spinal cord injuries, ALS, epilepsy, and others." They continued, "To make BCI implants sustainable, invasiveness must be minimized," and stated, "Compared to BrainGate, Neuralink, and other implanted BCIs, our NEO system verifies a new approach that balances BCI performance within the skull and invasiveness."

The NEO system was initially tested in pig clinical trials and received approval for the first human clinical trial early last year after 10 years of development. The Tsinghua University team reported that on December 19 last year, they implanted NEO in a second patient undergoing rehabilitation therapy. The clinical trial is expected to take six years to complete.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.