Onward Medical is entering into an exclusive licence with CEA to develop and commercialise WIMAGINE BCI brain-computer interface (BCI). The company plans to combine this BCI with its ONWARD ARC-IM therapy, which is targeted stimulation of the spinal cord using implants. This should enable thought-driven movements for people with paralysis.
Onward Medical is a Netherlands company focused on developing a spinal cord stimulation therapy to restore movement, function and independence for people with spinal cord injury. The company thus aims to improve mobility and quality of life for people with spinal cord injury.
Restoring communication between brain and muscle
It is working on technology that restores communication between the brain and muscles so that patients can move on their own again. To do this, it uses neuromodulation and advanced implants to stimulate nerve activity and improve motor functions. Onward Medical's therapy has now been applied to over 30 participants during studies.
CEA's WIMAGINE BCI is a BCI aimed at improving neurotechnologies and simplifying the interaction between the brain and devices such as computers. The system deploys electroencephalography (EEG) to record and analyse brain signals in real time. In this way, the system finds out the user's thoughts or intentions, which it converts into digital commands.
First implantations already performed
Onward Medical wants to combine this system with its own therapy, so it is now entering into an exclusive licence for this purpose. The company has been working for some time with CEA teams at Clinatec and .NeuroRestore on the first implantations. Back in May 2023, for instance, researchers reported in Nature that they had succeeded in giving a patient more control over his paralysed legs using an implanted BCI in combination with ARC-IM Therapy.
A second person was implanted with ARC-IM Therapy and a WIMAGINE BCI in September 2023, with the aim of restoring upper limb function after paralysis. A third person underwent implantation of an ARC-BCI system in September 20242. More implantations are planned in the coming months.
Advancing technology and making it accessible
"The early clinical feasibility study demonstrates the remarkable potential of the ARC-BCI system to restore thought-controlled movement and function after paralysis," said Guillaume Charvet, head of the Neurotechnology Biomedical Research Unit at CEA. "We are delighted to partner with ONWARD Medical and look forward to further developing this technology and making it accessible for the benefit of people with spinal cord injury."
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
