Tetraplegia patient controls wheelchair,robotic dog using only thoughts in China trial
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Home Paralyzed in 2022, the patient received a CAS brain-computer implant in 2025 and soon controlled devices A patient suffering from tetraplegia steered a smart wheelchair through the neighborhood with only his thoughts and directed a robotic dog to fetch a food delivery. These scenes were achieved during a recent clinical trial of a brain-computer interface conducted by a team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
This shattered the conventional boundaries of rehabilitation, carrying the brain's command from a two-dimensional cursor on a screen into full-bodied, three-dimensional interaction with the physical world.
Brain-computer interfaces are designed to create a direct communication channel between the brain and external devices. Around the world, research groups have already demonstrated the laboratory feats, including "mind typing" and robotic-arm control. The enduring challenge is to make those systems reliable enough to vanish into a patient's daily life.
The patient became quadriplegic in 2022 due to a spinal-cord injury and received the brain-computer-interface system, developed by the Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology under the CAS, in June 2025. Within weeks of training, he can reliably control a computer cursor and a tablet.
Published: December 21, 2025 5:48 pm
Source: The Express Tribune — Read original