How will BCI technology change the lives of people with disabilities?

Editor's note:

This year, the 35th national day for assisting persons with disabilities in China is May 18. Events nationwide honor role models with disabilities and individuals who have made outstanding contributions to empowering those with disabilities. Meanwhile, tech companies are pioneering advancements in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, creating new opportunities for people with disabilities to realize their aspirations and dreams.

With the help of an intelligent bionic hand, Zhou Jian, who lost his right hand at 12 due to an accident, can write and play the piano again.

Zhou is an employee of BrainCo, a unicorn in the brain-computer interface (BCI) technology located in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province.

Zhou's bionic hand has sensors in the prosthetic socket, enabling him to control the prosthesis via his brain. Zhou hopes that people with disabilities can train their phantom limb sensations and have faith in technology's potential to assist them.

Han Bicheng, BrainCo's founder and CEO, has been venturing into non-invasive BCI devices over the last decade. In 2016, BrainCo displayed a prototype of an intelligent bionic hand at the Consumer Electronics Show, gaining industry attention. By 2020, their product had started mass production.

Han aims to help 1 million disabled people regain daily living abilities and assist 10 million individuals with autism, Alzheimer's disease, and insomnia within five to 10 years.

How BCI works

A BCI system enables people to use their brain signals to control an external device. It can capture and analyze brain signals and then translate them into usable commands for an external device to convert into action. 

BCIs mainly fall into invasive, partially invasive, and non-invasive categories. Pioneering companies in BCI technology, such as Neuralink and BrainGate, focus on invasive BCI devices. 

Non-invasive BCI devices, like BrainCo's, face the challenge of accurately reading weak brain signals, which require advanced sensors.

BCI in China

Chinese BCI companies have seen recent progress. For example, Neuracle's BCI product helped a paralyzed patient partially recover daily functions. The 256-channel, high-throughput, flexible BCI device produced by NeuroXess enabled the patients to use their minds to manipulate software, pick up things, and speak to a digital avatar. Shanghai StairMed Technology initiated China's first long-term implantation clinical trial for an invasive BCI, allowing an amputee to operate a computer by thought.

"Clinical application is crucial for BCI's transition from lab to industry. In the next five years, BCI is expected to play a significant role in treating major brain diseases," said Huang Wenhong, deputy director of the Institute of Informatization and Software Industry, China Center for Information Industry Development.

In February, China's National Medical Products Administration approved the standard-setting project for brain-related medical device data quality. In March, the National Healthcare Security Administration established pricing items for BCI-related services. 

This year, multiple cities and provinces have introduced BCI-specific policies, and the National Science and Technology Ethics Committee has developed BCI research ethical guidelines.

Data shows China's 2024 BCI market has reached 3.2 billion yuan (roughly $444 million), and it's projected to surpass 3.8 billion yuan by 2025.