Ruihan Medical Wang Jing: Taking stock of the mainstream methods of brain-computer interface collection

On October 28, 2022, the first Nandu River Smart Medical and Rehabilitation Industry Summit Forum (hereinafter referred to as the "Nandu River Forum") was held in Haikou City, Hainan Province. The conference focused on three topics: brain-computer interface and medical robots, AI-assisted imaging and health monitoring.

At the meeting, Wang Jing, founder of Ruihan Medical, introduced the current situation of brain-computer interfaces and Ruihan Medical. Ruihan Medical was established in 2016 and will become a subsidiary of Lepu Medical Holdings in the first half of 2022.

Wang Jing said that the human brain is very complex, with nearly 100 billion neurons, and it is difficult to study it thoroughly using current methods alone. However, traditional brain computers can be roughly divided into four parts, including the collection, feature extraction, translation and application of EEG signals.

In terms of signal acquisition, two methods, cortical EEG and embedded EEG, can be used. Among them, Neuralink, the most famous one, uses embedded EEG technology, which can better collect signals. Synchron is also an interventional brain-computer interface. It implants the stent directly into the brain through the human jugular vein. The solution is much less invasive than Neuralink.

Wang Jing said that Ruihan currently focuses on scalp EEG non-invasive solutions, using scalp EEG to control robots for neurological rehabilitation. It entered clinical stage in 2016. In July 2020, the first product obtained the NMPA certificate, mainly targeting the finger nerve rehabilitation of stroke patients.

Wang Jing said that finger nerve rehabilitation is the most difficult part of stroke neurological rehabilitation because the hand has about 27 degrees of freedom and the motor cortex area is the largest in the brain. After having this plan, Ruihan began to develop rehabilitation products including upper and lower limbs. So far, Ruihan has successfully installed it in more than 100 hospitals, and has trained more than 3,000 patients.

In addition, this year Ruihan also joined forces with Lepu Medical, Xi'an Jiaotong University and Shanghai Optical Communication Center to apply for a Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's Artificial Intelligence Innovation Device Unveiling Plan, providing a rehabilitation robot system based on multi-modal induction brain-computer interface.