ONWARD Medical licenses WIMAGINE BCI for spinal cord injury treatment

WIMAGINE BCI is a key component of CEA’s ARC-BCI system, aiming to restore movement in paralysis patients.

Tiash saha October 17 2024

ONWARD Medical has acquired an exclusive licence from CEA for the development and commercialisation of the WIMAGINE Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology to treat spinal cord injuries.

WIMAGINE BCI isa key component of CEA’s investigational ARC-BCI system that pairs ONWARD ARC-IM Therapy, a spinal cord stimulation therapy, with CEA’s BCI technology to restore thought-driven movement and function in individuals with paralysis.

Designed by Clinatec, a biomedical research centre developed by CEA, it has seven years of human safety data, and the ARC-IM Therapy has been applied to more than 30 study participants to date.

ONWARD Medical CEO Dave Marver said: “Securing exclusive rights to the WIMAGINE BCI gives us an opportunity to be first to market with a BCI-enabled system to restore thought-driven movement after paralysis.

“Clinatec is a world-renowned biomedical research institute and its BCI is ideal for our applications. We can now develop a truly integrated system that is well suited for the type of study required to gain regulatory approval and bring a BCI-enabled system to market.”

The ARC-BCI system received breakthrough device designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in early 2024.

The system creates a DigitalBridge to resume the communication between the brain and the body. It utilises AI to interpret a person's brain signals and convert their movement intentions into accurate stimulation commands for the ARC-IM system.

ONWARD Medical implanted an investigational BCI in a human in collaboration with Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne and CEA-Clinatec in 2021.

In September 2023, a second individual was implanted with both ARC-IM Therapy and a WIMAGINE BCI for restoring upper limb function.

A year later, in September 2024, a third individual received an ARC-BCI system implant to restore leg movement after a spinal cord injury. More implants are scheduled shortly.

The ongoing studies are supported by grants from the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and the European Innovation Council.

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