Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition that disrupts the communication between the brain and spinal cord, leading to severe impairments of arm, hand, and leg function. These impairments affect independence, quality of life, and social participation, while the costs of lifelong care exceed €2.5 million per person. Despite this enormous medical, societal, and economic burden, there are currently no approved therapies that restore motor function after SCI.
The ReverseParalysis project was launched to address this unmet need. Building on over a decade of pioneering research supported by European Research Council grants, the consortium had already demonstrated the feasibility of brain–spine interfaces (BSIs). These systems decode signals of movement intention from the brain and translate them into targeted electrical stimulation of the spinal cord. In animal models, BSIs restored walking and arm movements, and in a landmark case a person with chronic paralysis was able to walk again outdoors. However, these first prototypes were based on repurposed devices not designed for this purpose, limiting their performance and potential for clinical translation.
The objective of ReverseParalysis was to move from proof-of-concept to robust, fully implantable medical systems. To achieve this, the project integrated two breakthrough technologies: WIMAGINE, the only implantable neurosensor able to record brain activity wirelessly with high precision, and ARC-IM, the only neurostimulation platform designed specifically for movement recovery after paralysis. By combining these, the consortium developed two BSI systems—one for upper-limb function and one for walking—that were optimized for clinical use.
The pathway to impact was designed in three steps: integration of the technologies into implantable systems; clinical trials to assess safety, performance, and usability; and the generation of industrial specifications for next-generation devices. This pathway directly supports European priorities in health innovation and disruptive medical technologies. The expected impact is transformative: improved independence and quality of life for people with paralysis, reduced care costs for families and healthcare systems, and positioning of Europe as a global leader in neurotechnology. Social sciences and humanities contributed by ensuring that patient and clinician perspectives informed design, and by embedding ethical frameworks to guide the responsible development of invasive neurotechnologies.
