A wraparound cuff reads several spinal signals at once
A Houston Methodist and University of Cambridge team described an ultrathin flexible electrode array that wraps all the way around the spinal cord in a peer-reviewed Nature Communications paper. The array conforms without penetrating neural tissue and, in freely moving rats during short-term implantation of up to three days, read intended movement, several kinds of sensory input and visceral sensory signals through the same interface. Deep-learning decoders reached R² = 0.97 for motor-intent decoding by exploiting low-frequency spinal oscillations aligned with central pattern generator rhythms; the same interface classified eight sensory modalities with 94.4 per cent accuracy. Cross-species checks in acutely anaesthetized pigs distinguished visceral sensory inputs. The design aims to bypass an injured segment rather than repair it. Everything so far is preclinical: the team tested rodents and larger anatomical models, says the next step is restoring function in animals with chronic injury before any human trial, and no patient has been implanted.[2]