The revolutionary potential of brain-computer interface technology in medicine and healthcare includes restoring vision to the blind and mobility to paralyzed patients. Photo: Shutterstock

According to SCMP, a top Chinese university has established a research center on brain-computer interfaces (BCI), a technology that allows humans to control external devices such as computers or robotic limbs with their thoughts.

The $56 million facility at Fudan University comes as China continues to push for breakthrough technology development in a race for technological dominance with the United States, the longtime leader in BCI research.

Launched last Saturday, Fudan University’s Neuromodulation and BCI Research Center is expected to spur innovation to realize the technology’s revolutionary potential in medicine and healthcare – such as restoring vision to the blind and mobility to paralyzed patients.

According to Shu Yousheng, deputy director of the center, the industrialization of innovative BCIs has been held back by a lack of technical support from other disciplines. The new research center aims to bridge the gap between brain disease research and industry. The center represents a systematic integration of Fudan's brain science-related resources and is expected to promote the clinical application and industrialization of BCIs.

In December 2021, the Shanghai municipal government listed rehabilitation and training equipment with BCI technology as a focus for developing advanced medical equipment in the city's latest five-year plan.

BCI is one of the future industries being specifically promoted by the Chinese central government as a “new quality productive force” – a concept of innovative, high-tech development put forward by President Xi Jinping about a year ago.

An official document guiding the development of emerging and future industries released by Beijing has emphasized the industrialization of BCI technologies. The document said the country encourages “breakthroughs in key technologies and devices such as brain-computer fusion technology and brain-like chips, as well as exploring applications in typical fields such as medical rehabilitation.”

Recently, the Beijing government announced a roadmap for faster development of the BCI industry, aiming to breakthrough in related core technologies and incubate many leading companies by 2026.

In March 2023, a BCI lab was also established in the northeastern port city of Tianjin near Beijing. In May 2024, the lab established the BCI and Human-Machine Fusion Association, with the participation of more than 40 financial institutions, research institutes, and state-owned enterprises.

In February 2024, scientists at China's Tsinghua University reported "breakthrough progress" in their first patient with a wireless BCI implant, saying their device was less invasive than Musk's Neuralink chip.

China is also racing to set industry standards for the future technology — including key ethical concerns like privacy, safety and autonomy — and issued guidelines in February to regulate the development and application of BCI research.

Last month, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology completed its public consultation on a plan to set up a committee to develop standards for the use of BCI technology, such as brain information collection, pre-processing, encoding and decoding, data transmission, and data visualization.