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European Innovation Council

ONWARD Medical

Restoring mobility and upper-limb function in individuals with spinal cord injury

Company name: ONWARD Medical

Project name: Reverse Paralysis

EU Contribution: € 1 645 146

Location: The Netherlands

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About ONWARD Medical

Spinal cord injury (SCI) interrupts communication between the brain and spinal cord. Reverse Paralysis introduced two innovative brain-computer interface platforms (BCI) designed to restore lower- and upper-limb function after SCI, developed by ONWARD Medical. They include a brain implant to decode motor intentions, and an implantable pulse generator to control spinal cord stimulation in real time using electrode arrays designed to restore movement. 6 study participants received BCI implants.

ReverseParalysis on Cordis
  • Vision & Impact

    The project combined ONWARD Medical’s innovative spinal cord stimulation technologies with a brain implant developed by CEA and clinical study expertise to enable thought-driven movement restoration. Early results show that trial participants regained thought-driven function in their limbs.

  • Collaboration

    The EIC has been instrumental in bringing together key actors and experts to advance translational research in movement restoration for people living with SCI. EIC-funded projects accelerate progress, enabling greater access to innovative technology for underserved communities.

  • What's next ?

    The EIC-funded Nemo BMI project aims to embed the decoding algorithm that infers motor intent from brain signals within an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The EIC-funded Reverse Stroke project applies the BCI to people who experienced chronic paralysis after subcortical strokes.

ONWARD Medical pioneers spinal cord stimulation therapies to restore movement, function, and independence in people living with SCI and other movement disabilities. The EIC facilitated innovation-driven partners from across Europe to come together for the Reverse Paralysis project, a crucial step to better understanding the potential of our groundbreaking technologies to restore thought-driven movement. Now, we are paving the way to expand the use of technologies to benefit the broader community of people living with movement disabilities.

Dave Marver, CEO

ONWARD Medical's Timeline

  1. 2025

    EIC Pathfinder Project Reverse Stroke started to expand BCI therapy for hand/arm function in subcortical stroke​

  2. 2025

    All implants completed as part of Reverse Paralysis

  3. 2024

    Patent filed WO/2024/223898

  4. 2024

    First patient implanted as part of Reverse Paralysis for lower-limb function

  5. 2023

    First patient implanted as part of Reverse Paralysis for upper-limb function 

  6. 2023

    Publication in Nature: “Walking naturally after spinal cord injury using a brain-spine interface”

  7. 2022

    Complementary EIC Pathfinder Project NEMO BMI started to work on next generation auto-adaptive systems for the brain-computer interface (BCI) technology

  8. 2022

    EIC Transition Project Reverse Paralysis started​