Chinese team invents 1-gram microscope for precise neural detection - Xinhua

A mouse wearing Airscope explores in a habitat built in a laboratory at Tsinghua University in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Wei Mengjia)BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists have developed a wireless microscope weighing only 1 gram that can record neural activity in the mouse cerebral cortex with single-cell resolution in natural environments. Named Airscope, the device was developed by a team led by Dai Qionghai, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a professor at Tsinghua University, in collaboration with researchers from other institutions. Details of the achievement were published in Nature on Monday. Dai said the microscope provides a new tool for understanding the neural basis of intelligence and will drive optical brain-computer interfaces toward more precise neural detection. Its future applications may expand beyond neuroscience to fields such as immunity and oncology, enabling complete tracking of disease processes, Dai added.

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