Spinal stimulation and robotics aid paralysis rehab

Rehabilitation robotics that encourage limb movement have previously been used to aid recovery from spinal cord injuries, but their impact has so far been limited. The Swiss-led team boosted the effectiveness of these treatments by pairing robotic therapy with stimulation of the spinal cord, using an implanted neuroprosthesis developed by biotech company .NeuroRestore.

The implant activates biomimetic ‘electrical epidural stimulation’ of muscles in harmony with robotic movements, resulting in coordinated muscle activity during therapy. In a proof-of-concept study involving five individuals with spinal cord injuries, the new treatment delivered ‘immediate and sustained’ muscle activation, with some patients seeing improvement in their voluntary movements post-treatment. The work is published in Science Robotics. 

“The seamless integration of spinal cord stimulation with rehabilitation or recreational robotics will accelerate the deployment of this therapy into the standard of care and the community of people with spinal cord injury,” said Grégoire Courtine, who leads the .NeuroRestore research team.

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During the trials, the team worked closely with rehabilitation centres to test how well the stimulation system integrated with widely used robotic devices. Participants used the system to walk with a rollator and cycle outdoors, validating its real-world impact. According to the researchers, the technology offers new hope for patients with spinal cord injuries, presenting a more effective rehabilitation approach than robotics alone. 

“We visited multiple rehabilitation centres to test our stimulation technology with the robotic systems they routinely use, and it was incredibly rewarding to witness their enthusiasm,” said .NeuroRestore’s Nicolas Hankov and BioRob’s Miroslav Caban, the study’s first authors.

“Seeing first hand how seamlessly our approach integrates with existing rehabilitation protocols reinforces its potential to transform care for people with spinal cord injury by providing a technological framework that is easy to adopt and deploy across multiple rehabilitation environments.”