How China's NEO brain chip differs from Elon Musk's Neuralink: Technology, trials & regulatory race explained

China has completed the first successful implantation of a commercially approved brain-computer interface (BCI) chip. The achievement marks a major milestone in neurotechnology, which aims to restore movement and communication to humans suffering ​from varied forms of paralysis. The NEO brain chip was implanted in a patient suffering a long-term spinal cord injury in order to help restore hand movement through a robotic glove controlled by brain signals.

The chip received approval in China earlier this year. The development has intensified the global race in brain-chip technology, with China and the US competing to lead the field. With this approval, China has become the first nation in the world to allow the use of an invasive BCI medical device for commercial use.

How NEO brain chip different from Elon Musk's Neuralink

The product is an invasive brain-computer interface (BCI), meaning its electrodes are implanted directly into the brain rather than placed on its surface. It employs a minimally invasive extradural implantation technique and operates using wireless technology.

The device is intended for patients aged 18 to 60 who have a specific type of spinal cord injury. To qualify, the injury must have occurred at least one year earlier, the patient must have remained medically stable for six months after standard treatment, and they must have lost the ability to grasp objects with their hands while still retaining some upper-arm movement.

Meanwhile, NeuCyber's advanced Beinao-2 system is another invasive BCI featuring flexible electrodes that are fully implanted into the brain and is currently undergoing large-scale animal trials. In comparison, Neuralink's N1 chip stands out for its robotic surgical system, which can implant hundreds of electrodes into the brain within minutes.

"The benchmark for Beinao-2 is ⁠Neuralink. I have to say, (there is) about three years' lag because they have over 20 patients using it already," ​Li Yuan, rotating CEO of NeuCyber, a startup linked with the Beijing-based Chinese Institute for Brain Research (CIBR), said. "We ​have just finished the first product and have to go through animal testing, then early-feasibility clinical trials, and then the real trials. That's maybe about two years later for the real trial," he added.

Li stated that the BCI device is a coin-sized wireless implant by Shanghai-based private firm Neuracle. It sits on the outer membrane of the brain and controls a ‌robotic glove. So far, NeuCyber has achieved seven human implantations of the previous version known as Beinao-1, a semi-invasive BCI having electrodes implanted on the brain's outer membrane.

In contrast, Neuralink reported in January that it has 21 participants worldwide registered in human clinical trials. Li projects that it could take an additional two to three years for NeuCyber's BCI products to become widely available in the domestic market, pending necessary clearances from China’s health commission, medical product regulators, and medical insurance authorities.