EEG tool detects language delay in infants from birth to age 2

Regulatory barriers in mainland China are limiting the product to private hospitals until an MPA license is secured

Precision Learning’s infant screening technology faces a market-access barrier in mainland China as the company works without an NMPA licence, limiting its ability to reach broader healthcare settings.

At the Asian Global Health Summit, Roxy Yeung, a student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and representative of Precision Learning, said the company is trying to address early detection of language disability and learning delay in infants aged zero to two. Its flagship product, Precision Listening, uses electroencephalography, or EEG, to measure brainwave activity through electrodes placed on the scalp.

Yeung said the company’s work is backed by more than 10 years of research and currently has no direct competitors in its segment. “There's no competitors as of now,” she said. Still, the main hurdle is entering mainland China without regulatory approval.

“However, we are experiencing difficulties in terms of getting into the mainland Chinese market, since we don't really have an MPA license yet,” Yeung said. Without that licence, the company can mainly partner with private hospitals, where requirements are less strict than in the wider healthcare system.

Gaining approval could allow Precision Learning to integrate its system into mainland China’s healthcare market, Yeung said. The broader issue is whether paediatric screening tools can move from research and private partnerships into larger clinical use.

The summit also showed how crowded neuroscience-related healthcare innovation has become. Yeung said “probably like 90% of the booths here are neuroscience based,” reflecting strong market interest in brain-related technologies.

For Precision Learning, the event offered a chance to learn from other startups on market entry, supplier engagement and collaboration. Yeung said exposure to other companies’ work could help identify future partnerships, especially as the company remains focused on paediatrics.

The challenge now is turning long-running research into regulated access and practical adoption.