#8 - Cleveland Clinic Top 10 Medical Innovations for 2022

Implantable for Severe Paralysis: The technology uses implanted electrodes to collect movement signals from the brain and decode them into movement commands. Shown to restore voluntary motor impulses in patients with severe paralysis.

Approximately one in 50 Americans, or 5.4 million people, have some form of paralysis. Most patients experience a significant decline in their overall health. Recently, a team has offered new hope for these patients by leveraging implanted brain-computer interface technology to recover lost motor control and enable patients to control digital devices. The technology uses implanted electrodes to collect movement signals from the brain and decode them into movement commands. It has been shown to restore voluntary motor impulses in patients with severe paralysis due to brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerve or muscle dysfunction. While the interface technology is in its infancy, the FDA has designated the implantable a “breakthrough device,” reinforcing the need to move this technology to the bedside of patients who need it most.