Devices

NeuroXess's 256-channel flexible cortical-surface array used for real-time motor and Mandarin speech decoding at Huashan Hospital. Reported in temporarily implanted epilepsy and tumor patients; some figures are company announcements.

Catalog specification sheet - Cortical surface

NeuroXess 256-channel flexible ECoG BCI

Record ID
BTSD-STUP-0006
Reviewed
2026-10-08
Interface
ecog
Evidence stage
human

Independent, source-linked catalog sheet. Not a manufacturer-issued datasheet, regulatory decision or instructions for clinical use. Human evidence does not establish approval. Source-specific restrictions, conflicts and missing specifications are retained below.

NeuroXess 256-channel flexible ECoG BCI

NeuroXess has described a 256-channel flexible cortical array that decoded motor intent and Mandarin speech in patients who were implanted for clinical epilepsy or tumor work. The hardware details here come from the Science Advances paper; accuracy claims beyond the paper come from the company. A secondary source called the array penetrating; the paper describes it as a surface ECoG grid.

Identity

FieldValue and source scope
DeviceNeuroXess 256-channel high-density flexible ECoG array with a skull-fixed headstage, used with the XessOS decoding software [1][2][3]
ManufacturerShanghai NeuroXess Technology Co., Ltd. (脑虎科技), founder Tiger H. Tao [1][4]
Interface classFlexible cortical-surface (ECoG) array; the peer-reviewed paper calls it a 256-channel microelectrocorticographic BCI [2]
OriginCompany device with Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, supported by the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute and Shanghai and national grants [1][2]
First demonstratedAugust 2024: real-time motor decoding in a 21-year-old epilepsy patient at Huashan Hospital (company announcement) [1]
First human implantAugust 2024 per NeuroXess’s January 2025 announcement. Secondary coverage dates a company disclosure to April 17, 2025; the company’s own announcement dates the implant earlier, so that date is used [1]
Species studiedHuman; NeuroXess also sells flexible depth electrodes for animal research, with single-unit recording in mice reported up to 10 months (company claim) [1][5]
Regulatory statusInvestigational; implanted in epilepsy patients undergoing clinical seizure or lesion monitoring under hospital IRB approval. No market approval found [1][2]
FunctionRecord high-gamma cortical activity (70 to 150 Hz) and decode motor intent and Mandarin syllables in real time [1][2]
Target tissueCortical surface; in the Mandarin study the array covered the middle and superior temporal gyri, ventral sensorimotor cortex and part of the pars opercularis [2]

Geometry and architecture

FieldValue and source scope
Interface typeFlexible high-density ECoG grid on the cortical surface, headstage fixed to the skull [2]
Array layout256 electrodes; layout beyond count and pitch unreported [2]
Electrode count256 channels [1][2]
Pitch3 mm center to center [2]
Electrode lengthsUnreported
Shank width and thicknessUnreported
Tip and exposed site geometryEach recording contact 1.3 mm in diameter [2]
Contact coatingUnreported
InsulationUnreported
Insertion methodPlaced on the cortical surface during surgery, in the cases reported as part of epilepsy localization [2]
Anchoring and fixationUnreported

Electrode and channel physics

FieldValue and source scope
Exposed site areaUnreported
Electrode materialUnreported
Impedance (with measurement frequency)Unreported
Noise floor or SNRThe paper reports generally high SNR with minimal drift across days and no significant new bad channels over 11 days; no numeric SNR extracted [2]
Recording modalityCortical surface potentials; features taken from the high-gamma band (70 to 150 Hz) [1][2]
Sampling rate15 kHz raw, downsampled to 400 Hz for offline processing [2]
Stimulation capabilityUnreported
Charge injection limitUnreported
Reference and groundUnreported

Tissue interface and bioresponse

FieldValue and source scope
Target tissueCortical surface, over temporal and ventral sensorimotor regions in the Mandarin study [2]
Insertion trauma and BBB disruptionUnreported
Vascular disruption riskUnreported
Micromotion sensitivityUnreported
Gliosis and encapsulationUnreported
Neuron loss near sitesUnreported
Foreign-body response mitigationUnreported
Typical failure modesNot reported in the sources read; the array performed reliably over 11 days of monitoring [2]

System architecture

FieldValue and source scope
Onboard electronicsUnreported
Data pathHeadstage fixed to the skull; the downstream link to the acquisition system is not described in the sections read, and wireless fully implanted operation is not described for this array [2]
Telemetry bandwidthUnreported
Sampling rateUnreported
PowerUnreported
Thermal managementUnreported
Packaging and hermeticityUnreported
MRI compatibilityUnreported
Surgical complexityCraniotomy placement of a surface grid as part of epilepsy monitoring; electrode placement guided by clinical need [2]
Output connectorsUnreported

Performance envelope

FieldValue and source scope
Acute yieldOver 11 days of monitoring about 9 hours of data were collected; no new bad channels emerged [2]
Chronic yieldUnreported
Stability over timeUnreported
Longevity11 days of intracranial monitoring in the Mandarin paper; chronic duration unreported [2]
Revision and explant experienceUnreported
Adverse eventsUnreported
Notable demonstrationsPeer-reviewed: median offline accuracy of 71.2% over 394 Mandarin syllables in a single-character reading task (Science Advances 2025). Company announcement: 71.2% accuracy across 142 common syllables within five days, decoding latency under 100 ms per character, and motor decoding with system latency under 60 ms [1][2]

Clinical and preclinical evidence

FieldValue and source scope
Human subjectsOne 21-year-old epilepsy patient with a motor-cortex lesion (motor decoding) and one epilepsy patient with a language-cortex tumor (December 2024), per the company; the Science Advances paper reports one 43-year-old woman [1][2]
Preclinical cohortUnreported
Follow-up durationDays to about two weeks of in-hospital monitoring in the reported cases [1][2]
IndicationsMotor, language and visual function restoration are listed as company goals; reported cases were epilepsy and tumor patients [1][5]
Trials and registriesHuashan Hospital IRB approval KY2024-842 for the paper; no registry identifier found [2]
Primary outcomesSyllable and sentence decoding accuracy and latency; see Notable demonstrations [1][2]
Key limitationsReported patients were temporarily implanted for clinical epilepsy or tumor care, not paralyzed users with a chronic implant. Few subjects. Company announcements are not peer reviewed [1][2]

Engineering tradeoffs

FieldValue and source scope
StrengthsHigh channel count of 256 over a 3 mm grid allowed fast functional mapping and decoding of both motor and Mandarin speech in days [1][2]
LimitationsSurface potentials have lower spatial resolution than penetrating arrays; reported use was short-term [2]
Scaling constraintsUnreported

Version boundary

The 256-channel array in the January 2025 announcement and the Science Advances paper. NeuroXess’s separate animal-research depth electrodes (4 um thick) are not this device.

References

  1. NeuroXess, Major Breakthrough in Clinical Trials of High-Throughput Implantable Flexible BCI, January 2, 2025.
  2. Real-time decoding of full-spectrum Chinese using brain-computer interface, Science Advances.
  3. NeuroXess clinical trials page.
  4. NeuroXess data sheets.
  5. NeuroXess multiple-region flexible electrodes (research products).