Guangdong's Nine Hospitals Secure Provincial Engineering Research Centers; Brain-Computer Interface Moves from Lab to Bedside

Recently, the Development and Reform Commission of Guangdong Province announced the list of Guangdong Provincial Engineering Research Centers for 2025. Among them, nine hospitals-led research centers have been approved simultaneously, covering multiple cutting-edge fields such as high-end equipment, new-generation information technology, and biotechnology industries, showcasing Guangdong's systematic layout in the medical technology sector.

This list includes the "High-Precision Intelligent Ophthalmic Equipment" Research Center led by Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center of Sun Yat-sen University, the "Multi-Modal Medical Artificial Intelligence System" platform dominated by the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, and the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University focusing on "Innovations in Diagnosis and Treatment of Otolaryngology". Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital is committed to "Intergenerational Blockade of Reproductive Health and Genetic Diseases". The most notable among them is the "Guangdong Provincial Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Neural Engineering and Brain-Computer Interface Translation" led by Zhujiang Hospital of Southern Medical University - the first provincial engineering research center in South China with a focus on clinical translation of brain-computer interfaces.

Brain-Computer Interface: From "Science Fiction Imagination" to "Clinical Necessity"

Brain-computer interface, once considered the most distant sci-fi concept from clinical application, is now truly rewriting the fate of patients in hospitals in Guangdong.

The Brain-Computer Interface Research Center, which has recently been approved, is directed by Professor Guo Hongbo, the president of Zhujiang Hospital, with Professor Guo Yanwu, the director of the Functional Neurosurgery Department, serving as the executive director. The center was jointly established with seven organizations, including WE-LINKING (Shenzhen Weiling Medical Technology Co., Ltd.) and Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Its goal is to tackle the "bottleneck" technological challenges in the field of brain-computer interfaces.

"What we aim to achieve is to truly push 'laboratory original innovations' toward 'clinical accessibility,'" said Guo Yanwu. This center will establish a full-chain collaborative innovation system of "clinical demand-driven – engineering technology support – industrial transformation implementation," ensuring that cutting-edge technologies do not remain confined to papers and patents but instead enter operating rooms and reach patients.

As a co-building unit, WE-LINKING has mastered the full-chain independent technology of implantable brain-computer interface "signal acquisition - transmission - analysis" and established a clinical research-grade implantable brain-computer interface system customization (ODM) platform. This company has deep cooperation with multiple top medical institutions in China, focusing on lesion and functional area identification and positioning, neural function reconstruction, and becoming a key link in technology implementation.

Consecutive "Sword Draws" in Epilepsy, Parkinson's, and Brain Tumor Surgeries

In the past year, Zhujiang Hospital has delivered solid results in the clinical application of brain-computer interfaces. In June 2025, Zhujiang Hospital took the lead in establishing the first brain-computer interface clinical research ward in South China, while simultaneously conducting the first implantable brain-computer interface surgery for epilepsy treatment. The scope of diagnosis and treatment covers multiple fields, including brain dysfunction, disorders of consciousness, movement disorders, hearing impairments, and neurodegenerative diseases.

On September 8, 2025, Guo Yanwu's team implanted a brain-computer interface in the brain of an epilepsy patient to carry out neuromodulation treatment, completing the first surgery in South China to use an implantable brain-computer interface for the treatment of epilepsy.

On September 12, 2025, Zhujiang Hospital became the chair unit of the Provincial Medical Association's Brain-Computer Interface and Brain Science Committee, and a pilot unit for the national "High-Quality Brain Disease Dataset."

In January 2026, the team made further progress. Professor Zhang Shizhong and Director Guo Yanwu from the Functional Neurosurgery Department implanted a perceptible closed-loop brain stimulator integrated with brain-computer interface technology into a patient who had been suffering from Parkinson's disease for seven years. This device acts like a "smart switch" for real-time regulation in the brain, moving Parkinson's disease treatment from traditional empirical judgment to data-driven precision control.

"The 'Clairvoyant Eye' on the Operating Table: Precise Localization of Lesions"

The value of brain-computer interfaces is reflected not only in treatment but also during surgery. During a brain tumor resection, the medical team utilized WE-LINKING's "Lesion and Malformation Functional Area Identification and Localization System." The patient had already exhibited mild language impairment prior to the surgery, with the lesion located adjacent to the language functional area—one of the most challenging scenarios in neurosurgery.

The system enables long-term dynamic monitoring of EEG signals by flexibly implanting multi-channel electrodes, converting complex electrophysiological data into intuitive maps that clearly mark the spatial relationship between lesion areas and functional cortices. Ultra-thin flexible film electrodes "adhere" to the surface of the cerebral cortex without penetrating brain tissue.

"The thin-film attachment solution is designed to fundamentally avoid tissue damage and long-term risks caused by insertion, making it more aligned with the core requirements of medical devices for long-term, safe, and stable use," pointed out Li Xiaojiang, founder of WE-LINKING. Behind this lies a profound engineering trade-off between the value orientations of 'ultimate performance first' and 'long-term safety and reliability first.'

Multi-pronged Blossoming: Guangdong's Medical Technology Layout Emerges

If brain-computer interfaces represent Guangdong's sharpness in "frontier breakthroughs," then the other engineering research centers approved at the same time demonstrate Guangdong's "systematic depth" in the medical technology field.

The High-End Intelligent Ophthalmic Equipment Research Center led by Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center of Sun Yat-sen University focuses on the localization of high-end equipment production in China; the multi-modal system platform of medical artificial intelligence at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University aims at the deep integration of next-generation information technology and healthcare; the Innovative Center for Diagnosis and Treatment in Otorhinolaryngology at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University is committed to the intelligent upgrading of specialized diagnosis and treatment technologies; and the Intergenerational Blocking Center for Reproductive Health and Genetic Diseases at Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital delves deeply into the biotechnology industry and eugenics.

Nine Centers, Nine Tracks: All Recommended by the Guangzhou Development and Reform Commission and Included in the Provincial Construction Sequence. This is not only a concentrated showcase of Guangdong's achievements in the medical technology field but also sends a clear signal: from high-end equipment to artificial intelligence, from brain-computer interfaces to reproductive health, Guangdong is building a multi-disciplinary, industry-academia-research-application integrated medical innovation ecosystem.

From "South China's First Case" to "Nationwide Availability"

With the establishment of the Engineering Research Center, the synergistic effects between Zhujiang Hospital and co-building entities such as WE-LINKING are rapidly amplifying. An integrated "research-clinical-conversion" platform is gradually taking shape in South China.

"We will leverage the technical advantages of implantable brain-computer interfaces, deeply engage in the center's scientific research and clinical transformation efforts, and contribute industrial strength to the development of brain science and brain-computer interface research during China’s ‘15th Five-Year Plan.’" stated WE-LINKING.

From epilepsy to Parkinson's disease, from lesion localization to neural function reconstruction, from the first case in South China to nationwide availability — brain-computer interface technology is steadily moving from "laboratory innovation" to "clinical accessibility" on the innovative soil of Guangdong, opening a new window of hope for countless patients. Meanwhile, the "multi-faceted blooming" landscape of Guangdong's medical technology is also adding new footnotes to China's medical innovation.