NeuroXess Achieves Full-Loop Brain-Computer Interface Validation with 50ms Intent-to-Action Latency, Files for IPO

By Our Reporter Jin Wanxia

China’s Brain-Computer Interface Field Showcases New Progress. On June 11, a reporter from Securities Daily learned from NeuroXess (hereinafter referred to as “NeuroXess”) that, with the aid of NeuroXess’s independently developed brain-computer interface system, two patients with high-level paraplegia, located in Shanghai and Jiangxi respectively, successfully completed a remote game of Chinese chess across a spatial distance of over 800 kilometers.

Reporters observed in the video that this brain-computer interface technology can complete a closed-loop process: decoding brain signals, controlling external devices with "thoughts," and having the external devices assist human limbs in performing relevant actions based on human "intent."

Generally, the application closed-loop of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology comprises three core components: first, decoding the brain, i.e., neural signal decoding; second, executing commands, i.e., controlling external devices to achieve functional compensation; and third, reshaping the body, i.e., assisting voluntary limb movement through feedback stimulation to promote neurological rehabilitation.

At present, the number of brain-computer interface (BCI) companies capable of achieving this closed-loop system is limited. In this instance, NeuroXess demonstrated its capabilities through a remote chess match. Patient A in Shanghai used a BCI system to control a virtual chessboard for piece selection and placement, with the corresponding commands transmitted in real time to a small device in Jiangxi Province.Robot, with the robot moving the chess pieces on a physical board for Patient A; meanwhile, Patient B in Jiangxi used a brain-computer interface system to control an exoskeletal “mechanical glove,” independently performing the actions of selecting, picking up, and placing the chess pieces. After the game concluded, Patient B, assisted by the exoskeletal “mechanical glove,” wrote the two Chinese characters for “success.”

Playing chess is a relatively simple activity for the average person, but for patients with high-level paraplegia due to damage to the "somatic nerves" (i.e., impaired peripheral nerves and spinal cord pathways, while cranial nerves remain intact), it is comparatively more difficult to perform, as selecting, moving, and placing pieces involves rapid and sequential operations.

Yang Qinrong, Algorithm Director at NeuroXess, told Securities Daily reporters: “Patients need to switch between different cognitive states, such as strategic thinking and waiting for the opponent’s move, which places higher demands on the real-time performance and anti-interference capability of decoding algorithms. Currently, NeuroXess has been able to control the latency of the aforementioned closed-loop system to within 50 milliseconds—twice as fast as a blink. This basically enables external devices to respond synchronously the instant the patient’s brain generates motor intentions.”

In fact, both high-level paraplegic patients who participated in the chess match had undergone implantation surgery with this product. Patient A achieved mind-controlled operation on the fifth day post-surgery, and after 17 days of training, their brain-control rate reached 5.2 BPS (bits per second, a standard unit for measuring the efficiency of information transmission from the brain to the machine), surpassing the level of ordinary people; Patient B was able to use the brain-controlled exoskeleton "mechanical glove" to assist with eating, drinking, and writing within one month after surgery.

Liu Yang, Medical Director at NeuroXess, added, “Chinese chess pieces are small and smooth-surfaced, requiring precise finger pinching to pick them up during play. This type of fine motor control, involving independent finger movements, is more challenging than the cylindrical grasping commonly used in rehabilitation training. The fact that patients can complete an entire chess game independently using the brain-controlled exoskeleton glove demonstrates that the system can already assist patients in performing fine motor skills approaching those required for daily living.”

From a hardware perspective, the brain-computer interface (BCI) device used in this “remote” match is NeuroXess’s self-developed “fully implantable, fully wireless, and fully functional” BCI product, which utilizes flexible cortical electrodes. “The flexible cortical electrodes adhere to the surface of the brain without penetrating brain tissue, thereby avoiding neural damage; heat-generating components such as the battery and processor are implanted subcutaneously in the chest, away from the brain, to ensure long-term safety,” stated NeuroXess.

NeuroXess remains committed to full-chain independent R&D, deeply integrating brain-computer interfaces (BCI) with artificial intelligence to provide high-end tools and systematic solutions for scientific research and clinical medical applications. Currently, NeuroXess’s super factory in the Ganjiang New Area of Jiangxi Province is accelerating the industrialization of its BCI-related products.