As one of the representative fields of new quality productivity, brain-computer interface is a cutting-edge technology with deep cross-integration of life science and information technology, and it is also an important direction for future industrial development. A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily learned that at the annual meeting of the Zhongguancun Forum, Beinao-2, which was announced as a major scientific and technological achievement, has realized the dexterous brain control of the two-dimensional motion cursor by macaques for the first time in the world. Among the top ten innovative cases released at the Zhongguancun Brain-Computer Interface Innovation and Development Application Forum, the application of brain-computer interface in more life and production has given this technology a broader prospect from the laboratory to the industry. A number of successful cases at home and abroad show that brain-computer decoding is speeding up, so how will this technology change our lives in the future?
Lao Yang, who has been paralyzed for 15 years, "grabbed" the water bottle
For many people, picking up a cup and drinking water is just an ordinary thing in daily life, but for Lao Yang, a high paraplegic, completing this action is a "miracle" he has been looking forward to for 15 years. As a subject of brain-computer interface, last year, Zhao Guoguang's team from Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University cooperated with Hong Bo's team at Tsinghua University to implant a self-developed semi-invasive wireless minimally invasive brain-computer interface into Lao Yang's body. Lao Yang also became the first subject of the device. After more than 3 months of rehabilitation training, Lao Yang, who has been paralyzed for 15 years, has achieved independent brain control to drink water, and his arms have become stronger, and he can even feel cold and heat.
As the first clinical subject of the wireless minimally invasive implantation of the brain-computer interface NEO, Lao Yang has a slightly bulging scalp on the back of his head, which is the location of the brain-computer interface processor implanted inside his skull. "The two processors each have four contact points, for a total of eight contact points, placed on the brain movement area that dominates Lao Yang's right hand. Zhao Guoguang, president of Xuanwu Hospital, explained.
A reporter from Beiqing Daily learned that a coin-sized intracerebral device is installed in the skull, and electrodes like two tentacles receive signals in the cerebral cortex. After the extracorporeal machine corresponding to the brain device is "attached" to the corresponding position, it can transmit brain signals.
Once the processor is buried and the signal can be captured, the next step is to "decode" the brain signal into computer language. NEO implanted under the skull can read the instructions sent by Lao Yang's cerebral cortex, for example, when he wants to "hold the cup", NEO transmits the EEG signal represented by this instruction to the computer, and then the computer drives the pneumatic glove to drive Lao Yang's hand to complete this instruction. As the rehabilitation continues, Lao Yang can already feel the difference between hot and cold recently, and he can hold and pick up a small half bottle of mineral water without the help of pneumatic gloves.
After Lao Yang, Xiaobai, who is also a high paraplegic, also received NEO's brain implantation in Tiantan Hospital. Now, the subject can move the cursor on the computer screen with his mind: the cursor goes down when he thinks "clenching his fist" in his head, and the cursor goes up when he thinks "raise his elbow". With this control, Xiaobai has been able to operate the wheelchair specially made for him to move forward and backward.
"Mind Manipulation" is accelerating out of the lab
Brain-computer interface, the "information highway" for the brain to communicate with external devices, is the cutting-edge technology of a new generation of human-computer interaction and human-computer hybrid intelligence. "In short, it is to capture the subtle changes in the brain's electrical signals, decode the brain's intentions, realize the 'mind' to control the 'action', and control the machine in the air without using the hands. Luo Minmin, director of the Beijing Institute of Brain Science and Brain-like, said.
In fact, many people's initial impression of brain-computer interfaces comes from the movie "The Matrix", and subsequent science fiction works such as "X-Men" and "Ready Player One" have made the imagination of "brain-machine interaction" more concrete. Maybe one day, all you need to think about is to "move" the equipment on its own, whether it is cooking, laundry, or even a certain part of work.
This was still a pure "fantasy" a few years ago, but with the realization of "hands-free control of machines" in multinational laboratories, and even a team in the mainland has realized that the typing speed of brainwave control machines can exceed that of ordinary people typing with touch-screen mobile phones. This "fantasy" is becoming reality at an accelerated pace.
Rather than turning ordinary people into superhumans, more scientists today are more committed to using brain-computer interface technology to "rehabilitate" the disabled. At present, the reconstruction of high-level brain functions is the beginning of the exploration of brain-computer interface technology, and it is also the most researched field at present. In the field of medical rehabilitation, scientists intend to use this technology to help those with severe motor dysfunction such as high paraplegia, locked-in syndrome, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis to rebuild motor and language functions.
Better "North Brain No. 2" decryption
"North Brain No. 2" simulation experiment
The NEO implanted in the brains of the two subjects is still the size of a coin, and the core component of the "Bei Brain No. 2" exhibited at this Zhongguancun Forum is a small film holding a soft filament - a high-throughput flexible microwire electrode. The translucent golden film, which is only slightly larger than a fingernail and as thin as a cicada's wing, pulls out electrode wires that are only one-tenth to one-hundredth the diameter of a human hair, and are covered with a large number of contacts that need to be seen under a microscope.
Professor Gao Xiaorong of Tsinghua University said that the implantable flexible electrodes in implantable brain-computer devices are a topic that needs to be solved in the development of brain-computer interfaces. Brain tissue is one of the softest tissues, and it differs from the silicon used in chips to the power of 10 in hardness. Getting these two substances to work together, scientists have also been working on it in materials science.
Li Yuan, business development director of Beijing Xinzhida Neurotechnology Co., Ltd., introduced that the flexible materials used in "Beinao No. 2" have high biocompatibility and no cytotoxicity, can make a large number of contacts on the electrode wire, have a high number of channels, and have strong signal capture capabilities.
According to the data disclosed by the company, the "Beinao-2" is comparable to the data disclosed by internationally renowned brain-computer companies such as Neuralink in terms of the number of channels, sampling rate, sampling accuracy and noise, and even better than the other party in many aspects.
Luo Minmin said that the core of the performance of brain-computer interface lies in the clarity of EEG signal capture and the accuracy of conversion, the former relying on electrodes and the latter relying on algorithms. The algorithm is equivalent to a "translator", accurately interpreting the signals released by the brain through the EEG, which is like translating a computer language with only 0 and 1 into Chinese characters. The algorithm applied by "Bei Brain No. 2" is self-developed in China, which can establish an accurate mapping between neural activity and motor parameters in the cerebral cortex.
Through such a set of equipment, the monkey with his hands tied only uses his "mind" to control the robotic arm and successfully catches the "strawberry". "The effective channel number and long-term stability of Beibrain No. 2 have reached the international leading level. Unlike rigid electrodes, flexible microwire electrodes can still accurately collect EEG signals after one year of implantation in the macaque brain. Li Yuan said that the full link of the "Beibrain No. 2" wired system has been run through, and the wireless full implant system is still being designed, "We plan to enter the clinical verification stage in 2025."
Luo Minmin said that implantable brain-computer interfaces must consider issues such as effectiveness, long-termness, safety, stability and convenience, and also require cutting-edge hardware technology, biocompatible materials and signal acquisition methods.
Academician Zhao Jizong said that whether it is at home or abroad, the research of invasive brain-computer interface still has a long way to go. It needs to be demonstrated over a long period of time, and it cannot be solved in three or five years.
The use of non-implantable brain-computer interfaces is progressing rapidly
Although in the medical field, implantable brain-computer interfaces are the field pursued by many scholars, non-implantable brain-computer interfaces have been studied earlier in mainland China. In Professor Gao Xiaorong's view, the mainland has mastered the whole chain of technology in non-implantable brain-computer interfaces, and has belonged to the first echelon in the world, and even has taken the lead in some fields. A reporter from Beiqing Daily learned that some companies engaged in the research of non-implantable brain-computer interfaces have made some progress in the commercialization of technology.
Last year, at the opening ceremony of the 4th Hangzhou Asian Para Games, paralympic athlete Xu Jialing wore a bionic hand to light the cauldron tower. This bionic hand is a set of intelligent products with a high degree of integration of non-implantable brain-computer interfaces and artificial intelligence algorithms. And this set of equipment was also unveiled at the Canton Fair held a few days ago, and the company's intelligent bionic hand experience officer wore a bionic hand, danced flexibly on the electronic organ, and played a beautiful music.
"At the Canton Fair, our booth attracted about 30,000 people and received more than 1,300 merchants. Even after the closing time, there are still merchants who want to see the products. And there are more orders on the way. He Xiyujin, partner and senior vice president of BrainCo Strong Brain Technology, said.
In He Xiyujin's view, the development direction of non-implantable brain-computer interfaces, in addition to medical and rehabilitation scenarios, is also applied in more and more application scenarios such as education, health, entertainment, and smart home, showing a trend of multi-point flowering. "In addition to intelligent prosthetics, our research and development of attention control system, mindfulness and stress relief products, through real-time monitoring of EEG and neurofeedback training, to improve the level of concentration or relieve stress and anxiety, our brain-computer intelligent sleep instrument products, for the country's 300 million insomnia group to provide brain-computer interface technology sleep aid solutions. In the future, non-implantable brain-computer interface products will develop in the direction of more diversification and portability, and will be more closely integrated with artificial intelligence, AR/VR and other technological elements. ”
Among the top ten innovative cases of brain-computer interface released at the brain-computer interface innovation and development application forum in the annual meeting of the Zhongguancun Forum, the driving safety prevention and control system, the brain-computer wearable device to avoid motion sickness, and the digital platform for the status monitoring of dangerous workers are all non-implantable brain-computer interface devices.
"We must look at the two paths of implantable and non-implantable in a calm and rational manner. At present, the two research directions of brain-computer interface are marching in the direction of overcoming their own shortcomings and giving full play to their strengths. These two research directions will eventually lead to the same goal, just like climbing a mountain from two starting points, and they will definitely meet at the top of the mountain. Ming Dong, vice president of Tianjin University, said.
Talent training and policies give the industry a "green light"
For the development of brain-computer interfaces, both the national and local governments are continuing to support. National ministries and commissions have launched many policies to support the research and industry of brain-computer interfaces, and have also given many "green lights" in terms of industry access and application scenarios. Among them, the brain-computer interface was listed as one of the 10 landmark products in the "Implementation Opinions on Promoting the Innovation and Development of Future Industries" by seven departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology this year.
The introduction of policies has led to the positive development of this field of research. However, in the eyes of some industry insiders, the development of an industry, the technical path is only a matter of choice, no matter which one is chosen, the brain-computer interface is multidisciplinary. For a long time, there was a lack of compound research talents on brain-computer interface in the mainland, and many scholars started from their own disciplines to conduct research on brain-computer interface. However, the cultivation of industry-related neuroscience and engineering compound talents is still a shortcoming, which has led to many detours in the research of brain-computer interfaces. Similarly, in the face of a wider range of application scenarios of brain-computer interfaces, more interdisciplinary talents in more fields are also needed.
Today, there are demonstration cases for talent training. Ming Dong told a reporter from Beiqing Daily that in 2017, Tianjin University established the Institute of Medical Engineering and Translational Medicine. At the same time, Tianjin University applied to the Ministry of Education to establish China's first intelligent medical engineering major in 2018, which is the first engineering degree in the medical category, which is a typical emerging interdisciplinary discipline, aiming to cultivate top-notch innovative compound talents in the field of medical and engineering integration.
At present, Tianjin University is taking the lead in the "101 Plan" of the Ministry of Education's intelligent medical engineering major, coordinating and organizing relevant brother universities at home and abroad to jointly build first-class core courses, first-class core textbooks, and first-class core practice projects, and build a long-term training system of discipline integration, academic system integration, curriculum integration, and science and education integration, so as to promote the implementation of China's plan for the cultivation of top-notch talents in intelligent medicine.
Beijing lays out the brain-computer interface industry
Beijing has given a lot of policy support in the research and development of brain-computer interfaces. As early as the beginning of 2023, the "Intelligent Brain-Computer System Enhancement Program" was launched at the Beijing Institute of Brain Science and Brain-like, striving to break through the key technologies of invasive brain-computer interface within 3 to 5 years and achieve preliminary clinical application.
A few days ago, the "Action Plan for Accelerating the Development of Beijing's Brain-Computer Interface Industry (2024-2030) (Draft for Comments)" was released, making it clear that Beijing will take the initiative to lay out the direction of industrial technology research, and promote core device components such as special sensors, chips, batteries, feedthroughs, and ultra-fine coated wires for brain-computer interfaces in the form of unveiling the leader. Support the integration and development of brain-computer interface technology with artificial intelligence, virtual reality, privacy computing, next-generation communication and other technologies, and accelerate the development of core supporting equipment such as brain-controlled robots, exoskeletons, and intelligent assistive devices. Focusing on the development of key software and tools based on basic common needs, we have developed an open source platform in the field of brain-computer interface.
In addition, the "Draft for Comments" also clarifies that Beijing will also enrich the supply of brain-computer interface products. Expand the entrance of brain-computer interfaces, accelerate the large-scale promotion of terminals such as VR headsets and disposable EEG detection headbands, enrich brain-computer interface applications in the fields of medical treatment, health care, life, consumption, industry, education, sports, transportation, etc., and support the research and development of cutting-edge brain-computer interface products. Promote products such as stroke rehabilitation training, autism screening, worker safety monitoring, sleep evaluation and intervention based on brain-computer interface. Among them, in the medical field, promote products such as Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and treatment and intervention, consciousness disorder assessment and intervention, depression screening and intervention, epilepsy early warning and intervention, pain assessment and intervention, autism assessment and intervention, anesthesia evaluation and drug administration based on brain-computer interface.
The "Draft for Comments" makes it clear that by 2026, breakthroughs will be made in the core key technologies of brain-computer interfaces, and the performance level and stability level of domestic products such as high-throughput implantable sensors, high-channel acquisition and stimulation integrated implantable chips, implantable micro batteries, high-sealing feedthroughs, and polyimide materials will reach the international leading level. Cultivate 5 national leading enterprises and 100 specialized and new "little giant" individual champions, and the industrial chain and supply chain are basically complete in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. Formulate a brain-computer interface industry map and a list of innovative products, and promote the initiation of clinical trials of 5 brain-computer interface medical devices. Promote typical application scenarios and form 5 generalizable cases. One characteristic brain-computer interface experience and display center has been built, forming a platform for the integration of industry and education, and training 1,000 people.
By 2030, breakthroughs will be made in brain-computer interface technology, products, ecology, and applications, and the technical system will be complete and independent. Cultivate 3-5 ecological enterprises with global influence, 1,000 small and medium-sized enterprises, and create 1 brain-computer interface industry development cluster. More than 10 implantable brain-computer interface products have been matured and commercialized. Attract overseas brain-computer interface innovation forces to set up more than 5 R&D centers and branches in Beijing. 3,000 brain-computer interface patents have been preferentially examined and pre-examined. The industrial scale has reached 300 billion yuan, becoming an important growth point of the industrial economy in the future. It has achieved 10 benchmark application scenarios in the fields of medical care, health care, and industry, and explored and carried out more than 10 typical applications in the fields of consumption, education, sports, and transportation, forming a number of new businesses, new applications, new models, and new business formats.
In the future, using "brain-computer interfaces" is like using mobile phones
The "Draft for Comments" also clarifies that in the field of entertainment, the combination of brain-computer interfaces with the metaverse, virtual reality, and augmented reality will be promoted. Research and development of brain-computer interface in the human-computer interaction mode in the metaverse to meet the high-bandwidth interaction needs of virtual reality human-computer interaction. Research and development of lightweight, portable, convenient, easy-to-use, comfortable and reliable wearable non-invasive brain signal acquisition and recording equipment to promote the continuous expansion of the scope of consumer application scenarios.
For smart home scenarios, smart wards, search and rescue, and other smart life scenarios, develop and promote multi-modal smart wearable devices for human-computer interaction and intelligent peripheral control. Promote the cross-integration and innovation of brain-computer interface technology, large-scale model technology, embodied intelligence technology, and intelligent sensing technology, and improve the flexibility, generalization, and safety of human, machine, and object interactions.
"In the past, when we encountered an incurable disease, or had to design a very complex system, it could be quickly completed or provided through brain-computer interface, artificial intelligence, and intelligent information processing. In the future, there will be more and more cases of brain-computer interfaces in games, transportation, and improving the happiness and needs of life. Gu Xiaosong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, agrees that there are many scenarios for the use of brain-computer interfaces in the future, "just like people use mobile phones now."
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Zhang Xin
Editor/Fan Hongwei