ARC-IM (Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation System)

2023: Device Announcement

On May 15, 2023, Onward Medical, headquartered in Eindhoven (Netherlands), announced the first successful use of an implantable ARC-IM device for the rehabilitation of people with spinal cord injuries .

The ARC-IM system includes a specially designed electrode designed to be placed along the patient's spinal cord. The implant stimulates the posterior roots of the spinal cord, which contain afferent nerve fibers that conduct sensitive impulses from the periphery to the central nervous system. Onward Medical designs a set of electrodes with different shapes and different technical parameters to solve certain problems.

ARC-IM (Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation System)

The electrode works in conjunction with a neurostimulator. Depending on the location of the implant and its parameters, blood pressure, bladder functions, limb mobility, etc. can be regulated. Thus, the technology is suitable for the rehabilitation of patients with a wide range of complications, as well as with injuries that led to paralysis.

The first ARC-IM electrode implantation operation was performed by Jocelyne Bloch, MD, a neurosurgeon at the Vaudois University Hospital Center (CHUV) in Lausanne (Switzerland). The patient was diagnosed with poor blood pressure regulation after a serious injury. During the procedure, the implant was placed in the thoracic spinal cord: electrical stimulation in this zone contributes to the restoration of blood pressure regulation. It is expected that the operation will improve the patient's quality of life, and the results of the work in the future will help thousands of people around the world who have suffered injuries of varying severity - including those that led to loss of mobility.^[1]

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