On December 30th, the investment community reported that Shanghai Ladder Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (Stairmed for short), a cutting-edge technology company focusing on the research and development of the underlying technology of the new generation of brain-computer interface, recently announced the completion of several hundred million yuan of Series A financing, which was jointly led by Oberg Capital and Yuanhe Origin. This round of financing will continue to be used for system research and development and team expansion, and continue to maintain the company's leading position in the field of implantable brain-computer interface. Ladder Medical has received tens of millions of angel round financing from Yuanlai Capital.

Founded in August 2021, Ladder Medical is a pioneering science and technology enterprise in the field of implantable brain-computer interface. Ladder medical care is committed to the research and development of implantable brain-computer interface technology, and the full-stack development of related products is carried out around the self-developed ultra-flexible micro-nano electrode technology. Its technology and products will be applied to medical scenes such as human function repair, disease treatment, function enhancement and related scientific research work.

Ladder medical care was founded in 2021 by several top scientists in the field of brain-computer interface and neuroscience. At the same time, the company announced that the team has achieved record results in various animal experiments, and its ultra-flexible electrode technology has realized the first long-term implantation of sober macaques in vivo. At the same time, the company's clinical research experiments on various nervous system diseases are also advancing rapidly.

As a pioneer of the new generation of implantable brain-computer interface, Step Medical divides the realization of brain-computer interface into three main links: one is to develop ultra-flexible neural electrodes with Qualcomm quantity, the other is to develop the whole system (implanted equipment, signal acquisition and decoding, intelligent terminal, etc.), and the third is to carry out large animal experiments and clinical research.

Through the innovation of material science and processing technology, step medical reduced the electrode size to a brand-new order of magnitude, and formed a unique series of ultra-flexible micro-nano electrodes with Qualcomm mass. At the same time, a wireless micro-implant which can be implanted under the skin has been developed. In order to safely and efficiently implant electrodes deep in the brain, Step Medical has developed the first flexible electrode implantation surgical robot system in China. Ladder medical named the self-developed implant surgery robot AUFEIS, and a series of products will be suitable for scientific research and medical applications respectively. In German, AUFEIS means "the ice layer on the river", and ladder medical care will continue to dig deep into the iceberg of brain science with AUFEIS.

With the industry-leading ultra-flexible electrodes, micro-implants and implanted surgical robots, ladder medical continues to promote the research of brain-computer interface in animal experiments, and its scientific research product series has been fully verified in various animal experiments, which can well meet the needs of related scientific research experiments. . At present, the ultra-flexible neural electrode technology of step medical treatment has achieved long-term implantation and stable recording in many different types of animals, and completed the stable in-vivo neural signal acquisition with the highest density, the largest range, the highest number of channels and the longest time known in the world (related experimental results have been published in Nature Biomedical Engineering (2022)). At the same time, the ladder medical treatment improves the two-way sensitivity of the system to the level of a single neuron, and realizes the fine stimulation regulation of neuron resolution.

Based on mature animal experiments, step-by-step medical care is actively promoting a number of clinical trials initiated by researchers.

This year, the clinical trial of the safety and effectiveness of flexible micro-nano electrodes in intraoperative (middle) EEG monitoring was initiated by ladder medical care, which marked the key stage of the application transformation of implantable brain-computer interface technology in China. Step-by-step medical care is committed to applying the cutting-edge brain-computer interface technology to the treatment and functional reconstruction of various diseases, providing a complete system solution for patients in urgent need of dyskinesia repair and fine deep brain stimulation, and helping clinical experts in related diseases to better serve patients and explore new treatment methods.

Ladder medical care believes: "The vigorous development of an industry or ecology has never been achieved by a team. In addition to the accumulation of upstream technology platforms, downstream applications need to invest a lot of effort to create common development. Therefore, at the beginning of its establishment, Ladder hoped to not only provide solutions, but also promote the development and exchange of industry and ecology, and help the industry develop rapidly and cooperate together. Ladder medical care will continue to provide more powerful brain-computer interface tools for different scientific research teams and clinical research institutions, and continue to create an "OPENSTAIRS" ecology. The "open ladder" ecology highly integrates basic scientific research, product technology development and clinical application, and provides infrastructure for a wider range of products and applications. Ladder Medical will always work together with many experts, researchers, entrepreneurs and various professionals in the fields of neuroscience and brain-computer interface with an open attitude to create the future of the industry. "

Dr. David Wang Guowei, partner of Aobo Capital, said: "Brain science, as one of the most important strategic disciplines in the next few decades, is bound to bring great transformation opportunities on the premise of a breakthrough in basic science, and first of all, it will benefit patients with nervous system-related diseases in medicine. Based on the world's leading top original technology, ladder medical care is led by a team of top scientists and mature entrepreneurs, and rapidly pushes the frontier of technology. We expect ladder medical care to continue to advance rapidly in scientific research products and clinical products, benefit scientists and patients around the world at an early date, and be a ladder for human progress and evolution. "

Fei Jianjiang, managing partner of Yuanhe Origin, said: "BCI is an effective bridge linking the human brain and external devices at present. Based on multi-disciplinary technologies such as neurobiology, nanomaterials, microelectronics and chip manufacturing, BCI has gradually broken through major key technologies such as Qualcomm, signal analysis, scientific research and intractable brain diseases. BCI, as a typical field of the combination of IT and BT, is the focus of Yuanhe Origin in recent two years. The team of ladder medical care is composed of top brain-computer interface and neuroscience experts in the industry. The team has accumulated many years of theoretical research and practice in ultra-flexible electrodes, implants and whole system development. Yuanhe Yuanyuan is very happy to join hands with such an excellent team as Ladder to contribute to human health and a better life. "

Ding Yihan, a partner of Yuanlai Capital, said: "Yuanlai Capital focuses on original innovation and cutting-edge technology, and continues to invest and incubate startups with great potential. Implantable brain-computer interface integrates many cutting-edge technologies such as new materials, semiconductors, robotics and brain science, and its subversive strategic value has become a battleground for international science. We are very happy to start from the angel wheel and accompany the establishment and growth of ladder medical care all the way. Yuanlai continues to be optimistic about the company's breakthrough and innovation strength in all aspects of brain-computer interface technology, and expects the company's products to bring more surprises. "