China approved the world’s first commercial brain implant before Neuralink — and the key difference is that NEO’s sensors rest on top of the brain’s protective membrane rather than piercing the cortex itself

In March 2026, China’s National Medical Products Administration approved NEO, a brain-computer interface developed by Shanghai-based startup Neuracle Technology with researchers at Tsinghua University, for commercial use in patients with paralysis caused by spinal cord injuries. It is the first invasive BCI to clear a national regulator for use beyond clinical trials anywhere in the [...] The post China approved the world’s first commercial brain implant before Neuralink — and the key difference