Overview

Xuanwu Hospital, part of Capital Medical University in Beijing, is a clinical site for three Chinese BCI approaches: an epidural implant now on the market, a combined brain and spinal cord system, and endovascular devices delivered through blood vessels.

Neuracle trial site

Neuracle’s NEO first-in-human procedure took place at Xuanwu in October 2023. Xuanwu was then one of three sites, with Beijing Tiantan Hospital and Huashan Hospital in Shanghai, in the 36-participant programme (NCT06990412) whose data supported the NMPA’s approval of NEO-ONE SCI on 13 March 2026.

Brain-spine interface

On 16 May 2025 a Xuanwu team implanted a man with a five-year-old T12-L1 spinal cord injury with two devices: the Beinao No.1 epidural BCI, developed by the Chinese Institute for Brain Research and NeuCyber NeuroTech, and a temporally programmed spinal cord stimulator. The team disclosed on 22 May 2026 that after a year of staged rehabilitation his classification had moved from ASIA Grade A, a complete injury, to ASIA Grade C, an incomplete one. The result comes from a single patient.

Endovascular work

Xuanwu surgeon Duan Wanru said in August 2026 that a surgeon with four or five years of experience can position an endovascular BCI in as little as 10 minutes. As of August 2026 Xuanwu had published no patient count, safety readout or total procedure time for that programme.

Why it matters

Xuanwu has clinical experience with two Chinese epidural implants, Neuracle’s approved NEO and CIBR’s Beinao No.1, plus its own endovascular programme. Peer-reviewed results on the brain-spine case and patient data from the endovascular work are the next things to watch.

Coverage on InsideBCI

• 24 May 2026: Chinese paraplegic patient regains partial sensation and movement one year after world-first combined Beinao-1 BCI and brain-spine interface surgery
• 16 July 2026: China performs first commercial Neuracle NEO implant
• 10 August 2026: Chinese endovascular BCI can be positioned in 10 minutes, Xuanwu Hospital surgeon says