Chinese Companies Adopt Endovascular Approach to Address Medical Demand in Brain-Computer Interface Market

NBD Reporter | Chen Ting NBD Editor | Xu Shaohang

“The brain-computer interface industry has gradually risen since 2020 and has now completed its first stage of development.” On May 28, Zhang Qi, Director and Vice President of OYMotion, told reporters from various media outlets, including the National Business Daily (hereinafter referred to as NBD reporters).

On the same day, OYMotion and MicroPort NeuroTech (HK02172) officially signed a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly develop an interventional brain-computer interface rehabilitation system.

According to Zhang Qi, in the first phase of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), various technologies have demonstrated unique advantages, but their limitations are increasingly being recognized by the industry. Next, BCIs will enter the second phase—the eve of commercial deployment.

At this stage, the focus will extend beyond technology itself to encompass the integration of technology with application scenarios, the convergence among different technologies, and the fusion of technology with business.

In 2026, brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are moving further from the laboratory into real-world applications. Industrialization is no longer a distant concept, with the medical sector regarded as the primary scenario for initial deployment. Against this backdrop, external assessments of corporate value have shifted away from focusing solely on technological concepts and patent counts, placing greater emphasis on clinical validation capabilities, medical device regulatory approvals, and progress in commercial implementation.

Industry Development Cannot Be Achieved Overnight

What has drawn industry attention is that OYMotion is currently the only hard-tech enterprise in China to simultaneously lay out both the brain-computer interface and embodied intelligence sectors, earning it the title of one of the “Four Little Dragons of Dexterous Hands.”

MicroPort NeuroTech is a Hong Kong-listed company under the MicroPort Medical Group, specializing in interventional devices for hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke. It holds GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice, the basic standard for pharmaceutical production and quality management) certification and possesses over 200 authorized patents, including overseas patents.

According to National Business Daily, the two parties will jointly tackle key challenges in hardware-software adaptation, signal transmission, and user experience optimization, striving to ensure low latency, high stability, and high precision in brain-computer interface systems—from neural signal decoding to exoskeleton action execution. The application scenarios will primarily focus on two areas: medical rehabilitation and expanding the boundaries of human-machine interaction.

Notably, as recently as March this year, OYMotion announced the completion of its Series C1 financing round, led by the Shenzhen Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence Industry Investment Fund under China International Capital Corporation (CICC) Capital, with continued participation from multiple existing shareholders.

Regarding this collaboration, Zhang Jie, Chairman of the Board of Minimally Invasive Brain Science, told National Business Daily reporters: “To summarize the division of labor between the two parties in one sentence: Minimally Invasive Brain Science is responsible for the brain-related aspects, while OYMotion is responsible for the limb-related aspects.”

“From the perspective of role division, Minimally Invasive Brain Science is responsible for building the overall system of brain-computer interface technology, encompassing everything from product design to clinical validation,” said Zhang Jie. With over a decade of experience in neurointervention, MicroPort Scientific Corporation will focus on invasive and semi-invasive approaches in the field of brain-computer interfaces, ultimately aiming to materialize as medical device products for clinical application.

Meanwhile, he also mentioned that Minimally Invasive Brain Science possesses years of experience in medical device product development, registration processes, and commercialization channels, offering future opportunities to implement brain-computer interface products and even expand into overseas markets.

According to reports, the first “deliverable” of the collaboration between the two parties, in terms of product development, will be a multi-channel endovascular brain-computer interface (BCI) system. Unlike traditional invasive BCI approaches that require craniotomy, this system employs a minimally invasive endovascular approach, delivering signal-acquisition stents via blood vessels to target brain regions. It enables high-quality intracranial electroencephalographic (EEG) signal acquisition without the need for skull opening, thereby balancing clinical safety with signal precision.

BOC International (China) SecuritiesRelevant research reports indicate that brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) can be classified into two categories: implanted and non-implanted, based on differences in signal acquisition methods and technologies. Implanted BCIs require surgical procedures to permanently or long-term implant the device or part of it into the brain. These devices are typically located within the body (e.g., subcutaneously, intracranially, on the surface of brain tissue, or within brain tissue) and are generally categorized into invasive BCIs and semi-invasive BCIs.

The research report argues that, from a technical perspective, endovascular brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) should be classified as a subtype of implanted BCIs. The report states that with advancements in signal acquisition technology, endovascular BCIs—which enable direct communication between the brain and external devices via minimally invasive interventional techniques—have emerged. The core feature of this technology is the implantation of micro-sensors or electrodes into specific brain regions (such as the motor cortex) through vascular access via a small puncture (similar to cardiac stent procedures), thereby eliminating the need for craniotomy or skull penetration.

Zhang Jie stated that, from a technical perspective, non-invasive, semi-invasive, and invasive brain-computer interfaces differ in terms of R&D difficulty, clinical application, and commercial promotion models.

In his view, the public is prone to becoming captivated by the “science fiction narrative” surrounding brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), while overlooking the significant clinical risks associated with invasive BCIs entering the brain. The industry’s development cannot be achieved overnight; it requires gradual refinement throughout the processes of technological advancement, clinical validation, and medical-engineering translation to ultimately realize clinical implementation and commercialization.

“The most critical element in this process is collaboration, rather than relying on a single entity; instead, multiple parties should jointly advance the effort by leveraging their respective technical strengths and accumulated expertise,” said Zhang Jie.

Notably, in terms of downstream applications of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), the healthcare sector holds significant market potential. According to McKinsey’s estimates, the global market size for BCIs in medical applications is expected to reach $40 billion by 2030 and surpass $145 billion by 2040.

Accelerated Industrialization Process

In 2026, the brain-computer interface industry is entering a pivotal year of development.

At the start of 2026, Elon Musk disclosed on social media that his brain-computer interface company, Neuralink, would begin mass production of its BCI devices in 2026 and advance a highly streamlined, nearly fully automated surgical procedure.

According to public reports, in March this year, the National Medical Products Administration approved the innovative product registration application for the implantable brain-computer interface hand motor function compensation system developed by Neuracle MedTech (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. This marks the world’s first market launch of a brain-computer interface medical device, signifying that the first invasive brain-computer interface medical device has entered the clinical application stage globally.

Additionally, according to the joint report released on April 1 this year by the Fourth Wave of Technology Think Tank in BeijingZhongguancunAccording to the “Prospects for the Commercialization of Brain-Computer Interfaces in China” report released by the Tiancheng Innovation Research Center, financing activities among brain-computer interface enterprises are unprecedentedly active at the current stage.

Data shows that there were 24 to 26 brain-computer interface (BCI) investment and financing events in 2025, with a total funding amount close to RMB 1.45 billion. In 2026, the pace of capital inflow has significantly accelerated. As of March 19, there had already been 17 investment and financing events in this field, totaling RMB 3.803 billion, far exceeding the full-year scale of last year.

The report also projects that the market size of China’s brain-computer interface (BCI) industry is expected to exceed RMB 5 billion in 2026, maintaining rapid growth, and is projected to surpass RMB 15 billion by 2030.

Against this backdrop, companies investing in brain-computer interfaces have begun to emphasize their industrialization capabilities.

OYMotion stated that this collaboration represents not only an expansion of its technological pathway but also a strategic leap, marking the company’s comprehensive acceleration toward becoming a platform-based brain-computer interface (BCI) enterprise by building on its non-invasive BCI foundation and integrating diverse technological approaches.

Zhang Dongdong, Director of the Brain Science Division at OYMotion, stated that in pursuit of this goal, OYMotion will simultaneously advance three strategic pillars: integrating multimodal technologies to accelerate the commercialization of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs); expanding from breakthroughs in single disease areas to coverage of multiple indications and fostering open industry collaborations; and building a comprehensive upstream and downstream BCI ecosystem spanning from research and development to application.

In the field of hybrid invasive and non-invasive approaches, Zhang Dongdong further pointed out that multimodal interaction will inevitably become a critical pathway for the practical application of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), describing it as “a key direction for our future exploration.”

In an interview, Zhang Qi stated that OYMotion’s expansion toward becoming a platform-based enterprise in the brain-computer interface (BCI) sector is driven by two main factors: first, OYMotion possesses self-sustaining revenue capabilities and sufficient capital reserves; second, its unique shareholder structure has aggregated and integrated the core resources essential for BCI commercialization. In his view, OYMotion has basically secured nearly all the critical upstream and downstream resources required for the practical implementation of BCI technologies.

Furthermore, OYMotion operates across the two major sectors of brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and embodied intelligence, leveraging advantages in its technological ecosystem. In the BCI domain, OYMotion possesses end-to-end capabilities ranging from the acquisition of electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyogram (EMG) signals to AI-driven intent decoding. Its “brain–muscle–machine” integrated rehabilitation devices have obtained medical device certification. In the field of embodied intelligence, OYMotion is one of the few companies in the market capable of mass production and delivery of dexterous hands, while maintaining fully independent intellectual property rights and a comprehensive supply chain system.

Notably, companies within the industry have begun to intensify capacity building and accelerate the layout for mass production.

According to the official WeChat account of NeuroXess, a life sciences technology company, on January 13, construction officially commenced on NeuroXess’s “Super Factory” in the Ganjiang New Area of Jiangxi Province. The facility will be responsible for the mass production of China’s first and the world’s second “fully implantable, fully wireless, and fully functional” brain-computer interface system.

Against this backdrop, what stage has the commercial implementation of brain-computer interfaces reached?

According to Zhang Qi, investor interest in the brain-computer interface (BCI) sector continues to rise in both the primary and secondary markets. From the perspective of medical devices, only one company in China has successfully launched a BCI product; strictly speaking, the industry has not yet achieved规模化 or commercialization at scale.

Zhang Qi believes that if included in the category of pan-neural interfaces, neuromodulation, brain-computer control, and electromechanical products have completed commercial validation. Overall, the industry is still on the eve of a large-scale commercial explosion.

Xie Zhiyong, CEO of Minimally Invasive Brain Science, told National Business Daily reporters that the pace of capital and policy advancement is significantly ahead of the industry’s actual commercialization progress. Although there are numerous EEG research teams and companies worldwide, the sector as a whole remains in its early stages.

In fact, the accelerated evolution of the industry also means that the market will undergo a process of survival of the fittest. For companies deploying brain-computer interfaces, only by stepping out of science fiction narratives and focusing on deeply cultivating technology in scenarios with rigid demand can this cutting-edge technology truly serve the public.

Cover image source: Xinhua News Agency