Neural Electronic Opportunity (NEO)

2024: Product Announcement

On January 30, 2024, Chinese researchers from Tsinghua University Beijing the in announced the development of the Neural Electronic Opportunity (NEO) neuroimplant, which helps return mobility to paralyzed people. Compared to the company's chips, the Neuralink Elona Musk new product is said to be safer and less invasive.

The NEO implant is comparable in size to two coins. It is not implanted directly into nerve tissue - instead, electrodes are placed in the epidural space between the brain and the skull. The product does not have its own power battery, and power is supplied remotely through a short-range wireless system using a high-frequency antenna.

source = Tsinghua University

The electrodes pick up nerve signals and send them wirelessly to an external receiver attached to the scalp. Then the data is processed and converted into commands for control, for example, a prosthesis or a special robotic glove.

The NEO system, which has been in development for 10 years, has undergone clinical trials in pigs, which, according to the project participants, showed that the electrodes are able to perform "stable long-term registration" of nerve signals, while keeping cortical neurons intact. These nerve cells in the outer layer of the brain are responsible for important functions such as memory and learning. In early 2023, scientists were granted permission to conduct research in humans.

The first patient to receive the NEO implant was a man who had all four limbs paralysed after suffering a spinal cord injury caused by a car accident. For three months of rehabilitation at home, he was able to take items using a special manipulator glove.^[1]

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