StairMed

Shanghai-based StairMed has taken its wireless implantable brain-computer interface system into human evaluation for people with speech impairments. The prospective, single-arm trial (NCT07647315) actually began on September 1, 2026, is now recruiting, and plans to enroll 4 participants. Subjects will undergo surgical implantation and brain-control training, followed by an expected 12 months of follow-up recording adverse events, serious adverse events and device deficiencies, along with efficacy data on brain-controlled interaction and communication. Primary completion is expected on August 30, 2028, and the study as a whole on December 30, 2028. The registry record does not disclose the implant site, decoding method or detailed eligibility criteria, and no interim results have been posted, so conclusions on safety and efficacy will have to wait for follow-up data.

China's brain-computer interface sector recorded 47 funding rounds in the first half of 2026, 38 of them disclosing terms for a combined RMB 5.38 billion (approx. $750 million). A broader tally used by Chinese financial media puts the total at 64 deals and roughly RMB 7.25 billion (approx. $1 billion). Either figure is more than double the whole of 2025 (49 deals, RMB 2.72 billion) at a comparable deal count. The record lists every deal by month — company, technical approach, round, amount, investors — and identifies three structural patterns: ultrasound and non-invasive approaches moving quickly into a field long defined by implants, Big Tech and municipal state funds entering at the same time, and nearly half of all transactions still sitting at angel or seed stage.

People's Daily Online reported that multiple people with high-level paralysis used StairMed's minimally invasive implantable BCI for three to four consecutive hours of computer work, including e-commerce logistics coordination and vending-machine data labeling. The company reported a 256-channel system and latency below 50 milliseconds. The article did not provide a participant count, standardized protocol or adverse-event table.

A Nature Communications study tested ultra-Flexible Implantable Neural Electrode arrays during awake surgery in 16 patients. Valid single-unit recordings were obtained in 11 patients, yielding 719 isolated neurons and as many as 135 simultaneously, while five early cases failed because of operating-room noise or damaged insertion needles. The work was intraoperative and does not establish long-term implant performance.