Chinese Team's Breakthrough in Stretchable Flexible Electrodes for Brain-Computer Interfaces Published in Nature Electronics

Beijing, February 7 (China Youth Daily Client) — Reporters learned today that a research team led by Fang Ying, a senior researcher at the Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders and Brain-like Intelligence and founder of Zhiran Medical, has successfully developed a stretchable, flexible electrode that combines high-throughput signal acquisition with biomechanical compliance. This technology overcomes the core bottleneck of traditional flexible electrodes in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), which are prone to displacement and dislodgement in response to dynamic brain movements, thereby providing a foundational solution for the long-term stability of invasive BCIs. The breakthrough was published on February 5 in the international academic journal Nature Electronics. (By Chen Yulong, trainee reporter of China Youth Daily·China Youth Network, and Wang Congcong, reporter)

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan recommendations list “brain-computer interfaces” (BCIs) as one of the forward-looking future industries. According to estimates by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the total number of BCI enterprises in China has now exceeded 200, and the market size of China’s BCI industry is projected to reach RMB 10–14 billion by 2030. With continuous breakthroughs in related technologies, the commercialization process of BCIs in China is accelerating.

Recently, news that brain-computer interface (BCI) company Neuralink will commence mass production of its devices this year has drawn international attention to the commercialization progress of BCIs. Shortly after Neuralink completed its first human implantation in early 2024, up to 85% of the flexible electrode threads detached from the patient’s brain tissue. This incident highlights a common challenge inherent to invasive BCIs: traditional linear electrodes cannot adapt in real time to the dynamic movements of brain tissue, making them prone to displacement or even detachment from the brain.

To address this persistent industry challenge, Fang Ying’s team proposed a novel high-throughput “stretchable” electrode architecture. This design not only dynamically conforms to brain movements but also requires only 1/100th of the force needed to stretch Neuralink’s linear electrodes. This signifies that stretchable flexible electrodes cause less mechanical damage to brain tissue, thereby fundamentally avoiding the immune responses and glial scarring associated with traditional linear electrodes.

The team reports that it has successfully developed a high-throughput, wireless, invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) system based on stretchable flexible electrodes. By optimizing the biocompatibility and signal transmission bandwidth of the BCI system, this technology effectively enhances long-term signal stability and decoding accuracy.

Source: China Youth Daily Client