China takes aim at Elon Muskās āJesus-levelā brain-chip dream with first BCI surgery policy
Repesentative image A first-of-its-kind insurance policy How the technology works The 'Jesus-level technology' Clinical trials in China and safety concerns Government push Elon Musk has
Repesentative image A first-of-its-kind insurance policy How the technology works The 'Jesus-level technology' Clinical trials in China and safety concerns Government push Elon Musk has spent years pursuing what he has called "Jesus-level" technology through Neuralink, aiming to treat chronic health conditions by implanting computer chips directly into the human brain. But that vision may end up taking shape fastest not in the US, but in China, where state authorities have launched a coordinated push to accelerate the country's own brain-computer interface (BCI) industry, according to a South China Morning Post report. China has introduced its first commercial policy covering invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) surgery. State-owned PICC Property and Casualty announced the scheme in partnership with a hospital affiliated with Zhejiang University School of Medicine in Hangzhou, a tech hub home to leading AI and robotics start-ups.Over the past few days, a string of BCI-related initiatives have been announced across China, involving state insurers, investment banks and local governments alike. The most significant came on Wednesday, when PICC Property and Casualty, a major state-owned insurer, announced it had signed the country's first commercial insurance policy covering the invasive surgery typically required to implant a BCI device in a patient's brain.The announcement moved markets almost immediately, with BCI-linked stocks in Hong Kong climbing as investors bet that insurance coverage would help speed up the technology's path to commercial use.
Shares of BCI-related firms rose 1.59% on Wednesday, with neuro-interventional device maker Shanghai Heartcare Medical Technology up 1.28% and software developer BrainAurora Medical Technology gaining 1.65%.BCI technology, which conventionally involves open-skull surgery to implant electrodes in a targeted region of the brain, allows patients to control digital devices using thought alone. The field has been most prominently championed globally by Musk's Neuralink, and versions of the technology have already been tested on human patients in both the US and China, in some cases showing promise in helping patients paralysed from the neck down regain the ability to move.The public hospital involved in PICC's new insurance scheme is regarded by local officials and doctors as a leading centre for BCI clinical trials in the region, and has reportedly conducted at least 12 human trials involving BCI implants, according to Chinese media reports. In one recent case, a 61-year-old paraplegic patient with a spinal cord injury regained the ability to bend and lift his leg within three days of surgery, and was walking unassisted by the fifteenth day.Brain-computer interfaces allow signals generated by the brain to be converted into digital commands that can control computers, devices or prosthetics.
The BriefWire