context: The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission considers the BCI (brain-computer interface) one of the six ‘future industries’, quickly catching up with Neuralink. Beijing and Shanghai both aspire to build a BCI cluster. In March 2025, the National Healthcare Security Administration introduced a new pricing item for BCI for clinical adoption. The National Medical Products Administration issued standards for quality and evaluation for datasets to support industry development. BCI will help paralysed patients walk again, but there are ongoing challenges regarding the safety and precision of its devices.
Shanghai StairMed Technology Co Ltd showcased the PRC's first prospective clinical trial of an invasive BCI (brain-computer interface) system intended for clinical registration, on 8 May 2025, reports The Paper.
According to the report, the participant, who lost all limbs in an electrical accident, received a brain electrode implantation at Fudan University's Huashan Hospital on 25 March 2025. After one month, the participant successfully controlled computer games (racing, chess) using thought alone.
Staircase Medical is the second company globally, after Elon Musk's Neuralink, to reach the clinical trial stage for invasive BCI products aimed at clinical application rather than preliminary scientific exploration.
The ultra-flexibility of electrodes produced minimal foreign-body reaction, thus reducing risk of displacement and tissue damage, notes Li Xue 李雪 StairMed founder and CAS (Chinese Academy of Science) Institute of Neuroscience researcher. She points out
- electrode details such as
- two ultra-flexible electrodes with a tip diameter approximately 1 percent of a hair strand
- 64-channel neural signal acquisition
- electrode cross-sectional area of 1/5 to 1/7 the size of Neuralink’s electrodes
- implant device
- diameter of 26 mm and thickness of less than 6 mm (smallest globally)
- surgically embedded in a 5 mm deep cranial recess without penetrating the skull entirely
- electrode tips penetrate the brain tissue by 5–8 mm
The subject was trained by imagining virtual limb movements, achieving direct cursor control without conscious visualisation and gaining effective control over computer cursors, games and fundamental digital interactions, as introduced by Zhao Zhengtuo 赵郑拓 StairMed founder and CAS Institute of Neuroscience researcher. He believes that within three to six months, it will progress to control robotic arms, wheelchairs and other assistive technologies.
Three to four initial participants will be followed for approximately one year, notes Zhao. 30–40 participants will enter the large-scale multicenter clinical trial in early 2026, and the goal is to launch to the market around 2028, following regulatory approval, data collection and registration procedures.
The plan is to establish the PRC's first medical-grade micro-electro-mechanical systems production line for electrodes, facilitating the transition from laboratory prototypes to reliable commercial products, says Zhao.