China launches new magnetic resonance platform to support BCI technology

TIANJIN -- The world's first magnetic resonance platform customized for brain-computer interface (BCI) technology was recently launched in North China's Tianjin municipality. The platform has established a neuroimaging magnetic resonance system, providing key support for the research and development of next-generation BCI technology.

As the most complex and sophisticated organ of human, the brain has about 86 billion neurons connected by more than 100 trillion synapses. For such a complex neural network, the question of how to detect and analyze full-brain scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, which contain vast amounts of information but are very weak, has always been a major challenge for the BCI industry.

The Haihe Laboratory of Brain-Computer Interaction and Human-Machine Integration at Tianjin University, Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare, and other research institutions utilized the spatial-temporal resolution capability of magnetic resonance equipment to achieve non-invasive and high spatial-temporal resolution in vivo analysis of the whole brain.

The new platform can simultaneously perform nuclear magnetic imaging and EEG recording, accurately capture subtle changes in brain activity, locate the position of these activities with sub-millimeter accuracy, and capture the timing of brain activities with sub-second speed.

Additionally, it can precisely regulate the brain using ultrasound and electrical stimulation technology, with the regulation process linked to the imaging system in real time. This enables synchronous coordination of observation and intervention, providing brain researchers with a three-dimensional and dynamic research perspective.

Zhang Qiang, chairman of Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare, said that the platform is expected to facilitate the practical BCI application in the medical and healthcare field, such as mental disease evaluation, severe neurological monitoring and rehabilitation training, and promote BCI technology from "decoding signals" to "understanding the brain."