When will brain-computer interfaces achieve human-machine integration

    "Just like standing a needle on tofu, you can't hurt tofu", the extremely difficult brain-computer interface technology is ushering in a breakthrough. Not long ago, Elon Musk's neurotech startup Neuralink announced that its first human clinical trial has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Mainland China also successfully conducted the world's first non-human primate interventional brain-computer interface experiment. Brain-computer interfaces have become the highland of global technological competition.

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    Brain-computer interface technology has brought science fiction into reality. With the help of this technology, quadriplegic people can stand and walk again, people with frozen can type with "thoughts", ordinary people can use brain waves to reply to emails...

    Recently, Elon Musk's tenth visit to China has attracted much attention. Previously, his neurotech startup Neuralink (neural connectivity) shocked the industry with its "big moves" in the field of brain-computer interfaces. Neuralink announces that its first human clinical trial has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

    "This represents a new era of brain-computer interfaces." Gao Xiaorong, a tenured professor at Tsinghua University School of Medicine, said that Neuralink's latest news indicates that high-speed brain-computer interfaces will enter the human clinical trial stage.

    He said that the brain-computer interface has achieved a breakthrough from science fiction to industrial landing in the past half century, from "0" to "1", and then from "1" to "2". He hopes that stakeholders in the industry can work together to overcome challenges and promote qualitative changes in brain-computer interfaces in the next 50 years.

    As an important branch of the future industry, brain-computer interface has become a highland of global scientific and technological competition. A few days ago, at the "2023 Zhongguancun Forum|Brain-Computer Interface Innovation and Development Sub-forum", big coffee gathered to seek the future of the development of the brain-computer interface industry and promote the realization of co-construction, co-governance, sharing and win-win.

On May 28, visitors experienced the brain-computer interface hand function rehabilitation training and evaluation system at the 2023 Zhongguancun Forum Exhibition (Science Fair). Photo courtesy of Visual China

China's brain-computer interface equipment is developing rapidly

    Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) refer to the direct connection created between the human or animal brain and external devices to enable the exchange of information between the brain and the device. With Neuralink's brain-computer interface approved for human clinical trials, many people are concerned about the development of domestic brain-computer interface technology and when China can enter the human clinical trial stage.

    In Gao Xiaorong's view, China's brain-computer interface equipment has developed rapidly and is advancing in tandem with the international level. In terms of brain-computer interface dataset, China has the largest public dataset, which is of great significance for promoting the application of brain-computer interface.

    The information transmission rate is regarded as the core evaluation index of brain-computer interface. Gao Xiaorong believes that the information transmission rate of global brain-computer interfaces has also improved rapidly. Among them, there is a Moore's Law in the field of brain-computer interfaces, which is increasing at a rate of about 4 times every 10 years, and many of the growth points are contributed by Chinese brain-computer interface scholars.

    For example, as the main founder of neural engineering and brain-computer interface discipline in China, Gao Xiaorong proposed and realized brain-computer interface technology based on steady-state evoked potential, which is one of the milestones in the industry.

    On May 4, the world's first non-human primate interventional brain-computer interface test was successfully conducted in Beijing. The experiment realized the interventional brain-computer interface brain-controlled robotic arm in the monkey brain, which also means that the mainland brain-computer interface technology ranks among the international leaders.

    Gao Xiaorong pointed out that this test was done on blood vessels and had great creativity. He explained that this is like people climbing or stepping on tofu, which will definitely trample the tofu, and this experiment found relatively hard tissue - blood vessels, and then put electrodes on it, just like "feet can still be next to tofu, but not to step on tofu."

    By establishing a connection between the brain and the machine, the brain-computer interface can replace, restore, enhance and supplement brain function, bringing good news to the recovery of patients with brain function injury. Therefore, the application prospect of brain-computer interface in the medical field in the future is very broad.

    Zhao Jizong, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and executive member of the World Union of Neurosurgery, introduced that in clinical medicine, brain-computer interface technology has been applied to the treatment of epilepsy, frostbite, spinal cord injury, paralysis and depression. He also introduced that at present, whether brain-computer interfaces have a role in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease is also being studied.

    When will human clinical trials of brain-computer interfaces in China arrive? Zhao Jizong said, "I think this is very close, Chinese can do big things, there is not much gap in theory, technology and ethics, and there is certain policy support, which is conducive to the development and application of brain-computer interfaces in China." ”

    In addition, at the forum, Zhao Zhiguo, chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, pointed out that at present, with the joint efforts of the industry, the mainland has formed a brain-computer interface industry chain covering the basic layer, technology layer and application layer, and has been applied in the fields of medical treatment, education, industry, entertainment and other fields, which will show a strong innovation driving force and huge development potential.

On May 29, at the exhibition center of Zhongguancun National Independent Innovation Demonstration Zone in Beijing, the medical-grade fully implantable wireless brain-computer interface system was displayed. Photo courtesy of Visual China

"It's like putting a needle on tofu, but you can't hurt tofu"

    At present, the application of brain-computer interface is in the clinical trial stage, and there are still many technical and ethical issues to be solved.

    Zhao Jizong pointed out that the brain structure is complex, and the brain-computer connection is difficult. Because the brain has 80 billion to 100 billion neurons, each with about 10,000 neuronal connections, analyzing the data collected by brain-computer interfaces is difficult: which signals are useful and which are not, and how the signals interact with each other is poorly understood.

    Specifically, brain-computer interfaces can be divided into two categories: non-invasive brain-computer interfaces and invasive brain-computer interfaces, and the two types are developing simultaneously.

    Many people believe that the EEG signals obtained by non-invasive brain-computer interfaces are of relatively poor quality and are susceptible to external interference. In Gao Xiaorong's view, the use of non-invasive brain-computer interfaces is like receiving satellite signals transmitted in the sky through equipment around the brain, although the receiving area is large, but from the perspective of communication rate alone, as long as it is well matched, non-invasive is not worse than invasive communication rate.

    Relatively speaking, invasive brain-computer interfaces have a higher threshold. Gao Xiaorong made an analogy, the main material of the chip implanted in the brain is silicon, which is one of the hardest things, and the brain tissue is one of the softest tissues in the human body, these two things to work together, just like "standing a needle on tofu", this needle must be able to contact tofu, but also not harm tofu, this is very difficult, involving a number of technological breakthroughs.

    "The key 'roadblock' in the development of invasive brain-computer interfaces is how to avoid biological responses." Zhao Jiwei said in an interview that in order to avoid biological effects, the main material that is now "stuck in the neck", if this can be solved, the development of brain-computer interfaces will take a big step forward.

    Zhao Jiwei pointed out that at present, in the field of brain-computer interface, domestic and international development are synchronized, and what is done abroad, it can also be done domestically. But what is more important is how to involve the government in coordinating the connection and operation of the entire systematic chain of production, learning, research and use.

    Gao Xiaorong pointed out that there is actually no difference between the real and final application scenarios of these two types of brain-computer interfaces.

    At present, the development of non-invasive brain-computer interfaces is mainly used in China; In the United States, invasive experiments are mainly based on animal experiments. In his view, these two solutions are the southern and northern slopes of Mount Everest, and will eventually come together to form a new scheme of brain-computer interface, which can be predicted in the next 50 years.

    In addition, with the deepening of the application of brain-computer interface technology, ethical issues have gradually become prominent. Zhao Jizong pointed out that once the large-scale promotion of brain-computer interface applications and the collection of people's brain signals are involved, a lot of privacy is involved. The industry needs to plan ahead for this problem.

    In addition, the talent pool in the field of brain-computer interface is also key. Gao Xiaorong said that this involves many fields, such as computer information processing, biotechnology and materials, etc., involving the cultivation of compound talents, which may also be a shortcoming of the industry.

The future is here When will brain-computer integration be realized

    As a neurosurgeon, this time Zhao Jizong is once again at the forefront of the clinical transformation of brain-computer interfaces. For the future of brain-computer interface, Zhao Jizong hopes that brain-computer interface technology will reduce or even eliminate the pain of patients suffering from diseases such as consciousness disorders, cognitive impairment, hemiplegic paraplegia, and frostbite.

    Gao Xiaorong also believes that the earliest application scenarios of brain-computer interfaces in the future may be centered on medical treatment and helping the elderly. At that time, brain-computer interfaces can help people like Hawking with ALS move easily. When the elderly gradually lose their mobility, they can also do something through the machine.

    At the scene, Zhao Jizong pointed out that high-performance brain-computer interface, two-way brain-computer interface and information security are the direction that brain-computer interface closed-loop regulation technology needs to focus on in the future. "At present, the communication rate of brain-computer interfaces is still low, and establishing an efficient information exchange channel between the brain and the machine is the key to achieving high-performance brain-computer interface."

    Zhao Jizong pointed out that the development of brain-computer interface needs to strengthen the cooperation of "government, industry, academia, research and medicine", strengthen talent training, and neurosurgery should become the main force of brain-computer interface clinical translational research.

    Zhao Zhiguo pointed out that on the new journey, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will take brain-computer interface as an important direction to cultivate future industrial development, strengthen the exploration of brain-computer interface application scenarios, and accelerate the vigorous development of the brain-computer interface industry. In particular, enhance the innovation ability of the brain-computer interface industry, strengthen the research and development capabilities of cutting-edge technologies such as basic theories of brain-computer interface, signal acquisition, and advanced algorithms, accelerate the research of key core technologies and important application products, and steadily improve the ability level of basic industries such as chips and key components related to brain-computer interfaces.

    Zhao Zhiguo also pointed out that it will pay attention to the major risks and challenges brought by brain-computer interface technology to the safety and ethics of related industries, do a good job in necessary system construction, ethical norms, and legislative research, promote the establishment of hierarchical ethical management systems such as medical treatment and education, determine the boundaries of reasonable scientific research and application, and ensure the safe application of related technologies.

    When will brain-computer interfaces truly realize human-machine integration? Gao Xiaorong pointed out that the final goal of brain-computer interface is to realize brain-computer intelligence, that is, the integration of brain and machine intelligence.

    "Brain-computer interfaces are certainly an indispensable means of the future, and there is no one that can replace it yet." Gao Xiaorong said that the development of brain-computer interfaces has gone through 50 years, and such a situation is expected to be realized in the next 50 years.

Source: China Youth Daily