by LIU Sunan

A Shanghai startup developing a fully implanted brain-computer interface (BCI) — technology that translates brain signals into digital commands — is running clinical trials on a wireless device aimed at restoring speech and movement in severely impaired patients, positioning itself as a challenger to Elon Musk's Neuralink.

NeuroXess, set up in 2021 by TAO Hu after he left his senior position at the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology (SIMIT), says it has already completed more than 50 patient trials. The company aims to obtain China's Class III medical-device approval within about two and a half years, an ambitious timetable that would pave the way for large-scale commercial rollout.

Neuralink in June published a roadmap outlining planned implants in speech cortex starting in late 2025 and devices with up to 25,000 electrodes by 2028. Tao says NeuroXess is moving on a parallel track but with a different technical approach and believes the company's clinical progress "may surpass Musk's," citing China's large patient pool and faster surgical throughput at major hospitals.

NeuroXess uses a flexible surface-electrode design rather than Neuralink's deep-penetrating needles. Its 256-channel micro-ECoG array is built with semiconductor micro-fabrication techniques, offering about 64 channels per square centimeter — roughly 64 times denser than conventional ECoG grids. The ultrathin mesh conforms to the brain's surface while a reinforced lead section aims to improve long-term stability, all housed in a customized titanium casing with low-power signal-processing electronics.

The company says the system delivers "high-bandwidth, high-resolution, low-invasiveness" recording suitable for long-duration implants. "We are doing microsculpture inside the most delicate place — the human brain," Tao said.

NeuroXess has reported early demonstrations of real-time Chinese speech decoding for patients with damage to language regions, producing sentences at roughly half normal speaking speed. The company says AI-assisted models could eventually raise output to about 307 characters per minute — roughly twice normal speech speed. It has also shown epilepsy patients controlling mainstream video games with reaction times comparable to a computer mouse, though these remain experimental trials rather than approved medical functions.

China's large population of stroke, paralysis and epilepsy patients, combined with high surgical volumes at institutions such as Huashan Hospital and the Shanghai Mental Health Center, provides an unusually large clinical base for BCI testing. Doctors say China's neurosurgeons typically perform more procedures each week than some Western centers do in an entire year, allowing devices to be iterated and validated more quickly once safety standards are met.

BCI has featured in recent policy papers in both Beijing and Shanghai. Shanghai, in particular, aims to complete at least five invasive and semi-invasive trials by 2027, with early pilots focused on restoring speech and motor function in severely impaired patients.The city also sees an edge in BCI's tight fusion of AI, chips and biomedicine — sectors where the city already has strong capabilities.

Researchers say broader adoption will hinge on long-term safety data and clinical evidence. Even so, firms from NeuroXess to Neuralink continue to push invasive BCIs as results improve. Tao adds that while clinical applications remain the priority, the technology may ultimately support capabilities beyond medical treatment.