It is the world’s first ISO/IEC international standard in the field of brain-computer interfaces (BCI). The standard establishes a unified BCI terminology framework and promotes international consensus, providing an important foundation for standardizing technological research, building industry-wide consensus, and accelerating the development of new quality productive forces in the BCI sector. It is expected to strongly advance the coordinated development of BCI technologies and industries worldwide.

The standard was led by Jiangbo Pu, an expert from the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, who served as the Project Leader. China formally submitted the standard proposal in March 2021, and the project was approved by vote in September of the same year. During its development, the project received strong support from leading Chinese research and standardization institutions in the BCI field, including the China Electronics Standardization Institute, Zhejiang University, and Tianjin University. Experts from eight countries, including the United States, Japan, and Australia, participated in the development process, with more than 300 comments reviewed and addressed.

The standard systematically defines 126 terms across eight major categories, including fundamental concepts, classifications, signals, experiments, and applications. It provides a solid foundation for deepening industrial collaboration and expanding international exchange, and will continue to leverage the guiding role of international standards to promote the high-quality development of the global BCI industry.

In recent years, the Institute of Biomedical Engineering has continued to strengthen its talent pool in international standardization, actively engage in global standardization activities, and share the PUMC story of China’s scientific and technological innovation with the international community, achieving significant breakthroughs in both international and national standardization.

Dr. Jiangbo Pu was selected as China’s Young Professional representative to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in 2021 for the Asia region and subsequently served in working groups under the IEC Board and Standardization Management Board. He currently serves as Convenor of the Ethics and Trustworthiness Working Group of the ISO/IEC Brain-Computer Interface Subcommittee, leading the development of two international standards on BCI terminology and ethics. He also serves as Vice-Chair of two IEEE standards working groups and has contributed as a principal drafter to 29 national standards currently in effect.

The publication of this international standard was supported by the CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (CIFMS) (Grant No. 2021-I2M-1-058). Supported by the CIFMS program, the Institute of Biomedical Engineering has produced a number of high-level and original scientific and technological achievements. In 2024, the Institute’s research team for ophthalmic diagnosis and treatment technologies was honored with the inaugural National Outstanding Engineer Team Award, conferred by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and was the only research team in China’s medical device sector to receive this distinction. A high-performance transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) system developed by the Institute received regulatory approval for market launch in March 2026. Over the past two years, the Institute has also incubated several technology companies, including Beitian Medical Technology (Tianjin) Co., Ltd., Tianjin Ruiqi Medical Technology Co., Ltd., and Najin Biotechnology (Tianjin) Co., Ltd.

The Institute of Biomedical Engineering has consistently upheld an evaluation mechanism that emphasizes tangible achievements, supporting the rapid growth of young scientists and empowering them to contribute their energy and talent to advancing high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and strength.