A neurotechnological method that electrically stimulates the spinal cord directly improves for the first time the mobility of the upper limbs after a stroke, allowing patients to more easily perform their normal daily activities.

The technique was developed in the USA. A pair of thin metal electrodes (resembling thin spaghetti) was implanted along the neck, on the surface of the spinal cord of patients, for almost a month. Using electrical impulses, they activated intact circuits of nerve cells inside the spinal cord, allowing stroke survivors to open and close their palm, raise their hand above their heads, use a knife and fork for the first time in nine years, or open a lock.

Researchers led by Associate Professor of Neurosurgery Marco Capogrosso of the University of Pittsburgh and Professor of Mechanical Engineering Douglas Weber of the Institute of Neurology at Carnegie Mellon University, who published in the medical journal Nature Medicine, successfully tested the new method. in two patients aged 31 and 47 with chronic weakness of the muscles of the upper limbs due to a stroke.

Epidural electrical stimulation was found to significantly improve arm mobility in both patients, which the researchers say opens the way for greater use of the technique (spinal cord stimulation) in the future after strokes that leave hand control problems.