Brain-controlled spinal cord stimulation for arm and hand movement after neck spinal cord injury
Tests a brain-signal-driven stimulation system in 3 people with cervical spinal cord injury.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
- Where
- Switzerland1 site in 1 countryChoose a country to see its sites
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Brain Controlled Spinal Cord Stimulation in Participants With Cervical Spinal Cord Injury for Upper Limb Rehabilitation
- Status
- Recruiting
- People taking part
- 3 people, planned
- Started
- 22 May 2023
- Expected to end
- 31 Dec 2026
- Type of study
- Interventional
- Treatments tested
- ARC-BSI Cervical system
- Record updated
- 23 April 2026
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for 3 adults with a long-standing spinal cord injury in the neck caused by an accident or trauma, with severe loss of arm and hand use. A device implanted over the brain and spinal cord is tested.
- Age
- 18 to 75 years
- Sex
- All sexes
- Disease stage
- Traumatic neck (cervical) spinal cord injury that is not getting worse, graded A, B, C or D on the ASIA (AIS) scale. The injury happened at least 6 months before consent. Arm function is severely impaired, as judged by the investigator.
- Earlier treatment
- Must have finished standard first-line rehabilitation. Cannot join if stem cells were ever injected into the spinal cord, or if an intrathecal baclofen pump is needed.
Main reasons for not taking part
- Pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning pregnancy during the study
- Brain damage, epilepsy, severe autonomic dysreflexia (sudden dangerous blood pressure rises), or any psychological disorder
- Spinal cord injury not caused by trauma, spinal narrowing (stenosis), or need for a ventilator
- Implanted devices such as pacemakers or defibrillators, or a need for MRI
- Another drug or device study in the 30 days before or during this study
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 32 criteriaShow less
Other criteria
- Must provide Informed Consent as documented by signature (Appendix Informed Consent Form),
- Must be at least 18 years old and no older than 75 years old at the time of enrolment,
- Must be suffering from non-progressive traumatic cervical spinal cord injury,
- Must be graded A, B, C, or D in the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (AIS) classification,
- Must have completed primary standard of care rehabilitation,
- Must be severely impaired in his upper limb function as determined by the investigator,
- Must have sustained the injury at least 6 months before signing the consent form,
- Must be able to understand and interact with the study team in French or English,
- Must agree to comply in good faith with all conditions of the study and to attend all scheduled appointments,
- Must use safe contraception for women of childbearing capacity,
- Must not be pregnant nor breast feeding,
- Must not have history of severe autonomic dysreflexia,
- Must not have brain damage,
- Must not have history of epilepsy,
- Must not have spinal stenosis,
- Must not have gastrointestinal ulcers in the last five years,
- Must not have any psychological disorder,
- Must not have the intention to become pregnant during the course of the study,
- Must not be known or suspected of drug or alcohol abuse,
- Must not have participated in another clinical study using drugs or medical devices within the 30 days preceding and during the present study,
- Must not have previously been injected with stem cells in the spinal cord,
- Must not be the investigator himself, his/her family members, employees or other dependent persons,
- Must not have any unstable or significant medical condition that is likely to interfere with study procedures or likely to confound study endpoint evaluations as determined by the Investigator,
- Must not have any hematological disorders with increased risk for surgical intervention,
- Must not require ventilator support,
- Must not suffer from spinal cord injury from other etiology than traumatic (ischemic, tumoral, autoimmune, etc),
- Must not be subject to spasms that limit the ability of the subject to participate in the study training as determined by the investigator,
- Must not display spinal stenosis or post traumatic damage at location of implantation,
- Must not require the use of an intrathecal baclofen pump,
- Must not be implanted with a device such as pacemakers or defibrillators,
- Must not have any indication that would require an MRI,
- Must not suffer from congenital nor acquired upper limb abnormalities (affection of joints or bones)
Check if you might fit
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 18 and 75 years old?
This trial has no sites in United States.
It has sites in one country. Choose a country to see its sites.
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
Cervical spinal cord stimulation can elicit arm and hand movements through recruitment of proprioceptive neurons in the dorsal roots. In participants with cervical spinal cord injury, the spare roots bellow the lesion can be used to reactivate motor function. Decoding of motor intentions can be achieved through implantable electrocorticography (ECoG) devices.
Read full original descriptionShow less
In this study, the investigators will use an investigational system using ECoG signal recording over the motor cortex to drive muscle specific electrical epidural spinal cord stimulation (EES). The investigators will assess the safety and preliminary efficacy of this system in 3 participants.
The group in the trial
- ARC-BSI Cervical RehabilitationTreatment being tested
Implantation of a neuroprosthetics system composed of an electrocorticography acquisition system (WIMAGINE) and a cervical epidural electrical spinal cord stimulation system (ARC-IM) to restore voluntary arm movements in participants with SCI.
Treatment: ARC-BSI Cervical system
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Brain Controlled Spinal Cord Stimulation in Participants With Cervical Spinal Cord Injury for Upper Limb Rehabilitation (UP2)
- Plain-language title
- Brain-controlled spinal cord stimulation for arm and hand movement after neck spinal cord injuryGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 14 November 2026.
- Fit questions
- Built from NCT05665998, who can take part
- Record updated
- 23 April 2026