Recovery of Distal Arm Movements in Spinal Cord Injured Patients with a Body-Machine Interface: A Proof-of-Concept Study

This study explores using a Body-Machine Interface (BoMI) to help people with cervical spinal cord injuries (cSCI) regain arm movement, especially in the elbow. The BoMI uses sensors on the arms to detect movement and translate it into actions, like controlling a computer cursor. The goal is to encourage the use of the forearms and promote symmetry in the use of right and left body sides. The results showed that participants improved their ability to use the interface and increased their forearm movement. Clinical tests also showed improvements in muscle strength and range of motion.

• 1
  At the end of the training, all subjects learned to efficiently use the interface despite being compelled by it to engage their most impaired movements.
• 2
  The subjects completed the training with bilateral symmetry in body recruitment, already present at the end of the familiarization, and they increased the forearm activity.
• 3
  The elbow motion’s angular amplitude improved for all subjects, and other kinematic parameters showed a trend towards the normality range.