China A monkey controls a robotic arm with its brain

State Chinese media say China will take the lead in this „red-hot tech war between China and the US”. Achievement of a brain chip that allows monkeys to control a robotic arm with their minds.

The Brain-Machine Interface And researchers from Nankai University in Tianjin report their achievement with monkeys Their study has yet to be peer-reviewed. Taking this into account, the study’s claims have yet to be independently verified. They are only available through a report from a Chinese university.

Life Sciences

As experts explainThis technology converts electroencephalogram (EEG) signals into control instructions for a robotic arm, The robot uses the arm to guide the monkey food into its mouth.

„The trial was conducted by Professor Duan Feng’s team from Nankai University and completed in collaboration with the People’s Liberation Army General Hospital (301 Hospital) and Shanghai Xinwei Medical Technology Institute, Ltd.”, the authors comment in a press release. „This experiment is an additional result obtained based on the previous brain-machine interface animal (sheep) intervention experiment. Recognition of EEG signals and other basic technologies.

Experiment

The researchers show that the test is marked Significant advances in brain science It also paves the way for new developments that help people with physical disabilities interact with external devices and improve their quality of life.

In images distributed by the university, a monkey can be seen in a container, then controls a robotic arm to grab food. Chinese technicians identified and collected electroencephalography (EEG) signals after placing an interventional EEG on the cerebrovascular wall of a monkey. Through 'minimally invasive’ surgery.

„Success in the first animal experiment is an improvement to zero, but bringing success to the clinic is a 1 to 100 process, so we still have a long way to go,” said neurosurgeon Ma Yongjie. Beijing-based Xuanwu Hospital Capital Medical University.

This procedure appears to be far less invasive and particularly less harmful than operations performed on primates. Neuralink has been criticized on several occasions for its ethical and safety standards. Neuralink, unlike other companies like Synchron, has been surrounded by controversy, and if that wasn’t enough, His request to test his chip on humans was rejected by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last March 2023.

Although the researchers have yet to publish a complete (and peer-reviewed) study, other companies have already tested their implants in humans and provided evidence that they work.

Note:

First in the world! Nankai’s team led to the completion of the non-human primate experiment of brain-machine interface intervention. Nankai University News Network, China. https://news.nankai.edu.cn/ywsd/system/2023/05/05/030055887.shtml