Scientists at Tsinghua University in China have made a big breakthrough in neural technology by creating the Neural Electronic Opportunity (NEO), a wireless brain-computer interface implant.
They tested it on a person with a spinal cord injury, and it worked well.
The implant is really small, less than two coins, and it goes directly into the skull without needing batteries.
It uses wireless power to capture signals from the brain, sending them to an external receiver that a computer or smartphone can understand.
This technology, called Brain-Computer Interface (BCI), is helpful for people with spinal cord injuries and conditions like epilepsy.
The Tsinghua University team says their implant is not very disruptive to the body.
Their NEO system is different from other projects like Elon Musk's Neuralink, as they think it's a good balance between performance and invasiveness.
In a quick trial with a person with a spinal cord injury, positive results came in just three months of rehab.
The person could control a prosthetic hand, and they expect more improvements with ongoing development.
The researchers want to explore more uses for this tech, especially in helping damaged spinal cord segments grow back.
This is a big step forward in neural interfaces, offering hope for people with neurological conditions and spinal cord injuries.
