The team of President Zhao Guoguang of Xuanwu Hospital performed the first implant operation
The reporter learned from Tsinghua University: Recently, the team of Tsinghua University and Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University successfully conducted the first clinical trial of wireless minimally invasive brain-computer interface. At the clinical trial phase summary meeting held on January 29, the joint team announced that the first patient had made a breakthrough in the rehabilitation of brain-computer interface.
On October 24, 2023, Professor Hong Bo of Tsinghua University School of Medicine led the team to design and develop the wireless minimally invasive implantable brain-computer interface NEO (Neural Electronic Opportunity) system, and conducted the first clinical implantation trial in Xuanwu Hospital. The first patient suffered complete spinal cord injury (ASIA score A) at the cervical spine caused by a car accident and has been in a quadriplegic state for more than 10 years. In the experiment, two coin-sized brain-computer interface processors were implanted into the patient's skull to successfully collect nerve signals from the sensorimotor brain region.
The system adopts a wireless minimally invasive design, the internal organ is embedded in the skull, and the electrodes are covered by the epidura (the dura is located between the skull and the cerebral cortex, which plays a role in protecting the nerve tissue), and does not damage the brain cells, and the patient is discharged home 10 days after the operation. When used at home, the external computer supplies power to the internal computer through the scalp, and receives the nerve signals in the brain, transmits them to the computer or mobile phone, and realizes brain-computer interface communication with the help of decoding algorithms.
The first patient successfully achieved brain-controlled grasping through wireless minimally invasive brain-computer interface
After three months of home brain-computer interface rehabilitation training, the patient can drive pneumatic gloves through EEG activities to achieve brain control functions such as drinking water independently, and the grasp and decoding accuracy rate is more than 90%, and the ASIA clinical score and sensory evoked potential response of the patients with spinal cord injury have been significantly improved.
It is understood that the implantation of the second patient has been successfully carried out by Professor Jia Wang's team in Tiantan Hospital on December 19, 2023, and the signal reception is currently normal, and the patient is undergoing home rehabilitation training. The clinical trial of the wireless minimally invasive brain-computer interface passed the ethical review of Xuanwu Hospital and Tiantan Hospital in April and May 2023, respectively, and carried out international and domestic clinical trial registration of implantable medical devices.
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What is a brain-computer interface?
According to Hong Bo, the brain-computer interface realizes direct communication between the brain and the computer by recording and interpreting brain signals. On the one hand, it will help to help patients with ALS, spinal cord injury, epilepsy and other brain diseases recover, and on the other hand, it is expected to realize brain-computer integration intelligence and expand the information processing ability of the human brain.
Wireless minimally invasive implantation of the brain-computer interface NEO system and its in vivo machine
What is the difference between the wireless minimally invasive implanted brain-computer interface NEO and the Neuralink brain-computer interface?
According to Hong Bo, the wireless minimally invasive implanted brain-computer interface NEO places the electrodes on the epidural of the brain, which has been verified by long-term animal experiments, does not damage nerve tissue, has a stable signal, and uses near-field wireless power supply and communication technology, without batteries in the body.