China’s neurotechnology breakthrough challenges Elon Musk’s verdict on paralysed patients
Story by Shi Huang
• 12h
Patients with spinal cord injuries have been offered the chance to walk again after the success of a Chinese trial
The paralysis caused by spinal cord injuries has long been considered irreversible.
Even billionaire Elon Musk’s Neuralink, with its pioneering brain computer interfaces (BCIs) which bypass damaged nerves by linking them directly to external devices like robotic limbs, works on the assumption that the person’s paralysed limbs are beyond saving.
But in a clinical trial led by Shanghai’s Fudan University, four paralysed patients regained control of their legs within 24 hours of a minimally invasive surgery.
They could suddenly lift limbs that had been written off, they could walk independently within weeks, and they even experienced restored nerve function.
The Chinese team’s advance was made possible by implanting electrode chips in the brain and spinal cord to create a bridge or “neural bypass” – thus reconnecting the body’s own pathways.
While Musk’s BCIs tether patients to computers, China’s brain-spinal interface reignites dormant nerves, sparking what researchers call “neural remodelling” – a rewiring of the nervous system that could ultimately free patients from devices altogether.
This not only challenges America’s dominance in neurotechnology – it also redefines the future of treatment for paralysis. With 3.74 million spinal injury patients in China alone, the implications could be seismic.
One of the patients is able to walk with the help of a standing frame after the surgery. Photo: Fudan University
Lead scientist of the Chinese project Jia Fumin is a deputy researcher at the Fudan Brain-like Intelligence Science and Technology Research Institute and the principal investigator of clinical research. On March 3, Jia’s team announced the results of their research at a press conference at Fudan University in Shanghai.
The four-hour surgeries saw two electrode chips with a diameter of about 1mm implanted into each patient’s motor cortex.
Within hours, all four patients could move their legs, despite years of not using them. After one or two months of rehabilitation, the patients were walking and regaining some spinal cord function.
The first volunteer was a 34-year-old man who was left paraplegic after a three-metre (10-foot) fall two years ago.
He had the surgery on January 8 and within 24 hours of the surgery he could lift both legs. On the 14th day after surgery, his right leg could quickly respond to lift and step over moving obstacles, and he could walk more than five metres with the support of a standing frame.
The other three patients had their operations on February 5, February 25 and March 3. They showed varying degrees of recovery and have all been able to start walking.
The success lies in the tiny chips. They collect and decode neural signals in the patient’s brain, then provide spatiotemporal electrical stimulation to specific spinal nerve roots.
But this has not only created a pathway between the brain and spinal cord – it has kick-started the patients’ bodies to actually improve themselves.
According to the Fudan University website, when the first patient had a follow-up appointment at the end of February, he said: “My feet feel warm and sweaty, and there is a tingling sensation. When I stand, I feel the muscles in my legs contracting.” He also said that he had begun to feel when he needed to use the toilet.
Referred to as neural remodelling, this shows that patients’ neural connections are rebuilding when the brain-spinal interface is stimulated. It means they can autonomously control paralysed muscles without external stimuli.
In similar research conducted previously by a team in Switzerland, neural remodelling effects were observed around six months after the implantation surgery of the brain-spinal interface.
However, in the surgeries in Shanghai, these effects appeared in just two weeks.
This means less damage in the new generation of brain-spinal interfaces, which may better resolve patients’ paralysis conditions.
Also unlike the Swiss experiments, the Chinese team’s new generation of cerebrospinal interfaces combines three brain-implant devices into one, reducing the potential for surgical damage.
And all instruments and implants used in the operations were made in China.
“In the past, everyone was familiar with high-end medical equipment from abroad, but now we have entered uncharted territory, achieving the world’s first new generation of original brain-spinal interface system solutions,” Jia was quoted by the university’s website as saying.
According to the 2024 Nature Index, the United States leads the world in health sciences research, with China ranked second. But the gap between the US and China is rapidly narrowing.
The “Quality of Life and Disease Burden of Spinal Cord Injury Patients in China” published in 2023 shows there are 3.74 million spinal cord injury patients in China, with around 90,000 new cases each year.
“If we implant a spinal interface and combine it with three to five years of rehabilitation training, the patient’s nerves can reconnect and be reshaped. Ultimately, we may free patients from device dependence,” Jia was quoted as saying.
For these patients, this technology may represent a real neural link.
https://www.msn.com/en-xl/health/oth…ts/ar-AA1BepG0
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