Spinal cord stimulation can improve arm and hand motion after a stroke, study finds

A study published in the medical journal Nature on Monday found that targeted electrical pulses delivered to the spinal cord can help improve arm and hand movement after a stroke.

Two patients were able to regain additional motion in their arm and hand through a device implanted at the base of the spine, which delivered pulses in areas responsible for hand and arm function. The patients were able to regain temporarily the ability to grab and move objects, when they had been previously unable to do so, by strengthening signals to the brain that enable movement.

"We're not bypassing their control. We're enhancing their capabilities to move their own arm," Marco Capogrosso, one of the researchers who worked alongside a team at Carnegie Mellon University, told the Associated Press.