Research findings: people with SCI can use their residual muscle activity to control virtual cursors and play games Regaining hand use is one of the top priorities for people with spinal cord injury. Interestingly, research has found that even those most severely affected can still produce small amounts of muscle activity in their paralysed muscles. A team at Imperial College London discovered that they could detect this residual muscle activity in three people with cervical spinal cord injuries who had no hand function. They did this using simple electrodes placed on the skin's surface. With this technology, participants used their residual muscle activity to control a cursor on a screen, and successfully played games like Pong and Snake. One participant even managed to control a virtual wheelchair! Importantly, this technology worked from day one, in paralysed muscles and despite significant spasticity. This exciting discovery shows that non-invasive recordings (without the need for surgery) could pave the way for restoring hand function and serve as a powerful tool for rehabilitation. Read the research paper Bluesky summary of the study LinkedIn summary of the study YouTube videos YouTube video - one of the authors talking about the study Researchers would like to thank: Imperial College London Champalimaud Foundation Hillingdon Hospital Professor Dario Farina Dr Juan Álvaro Gallego Dr Vishal Rawji Dr Xingchen Yang Miss Ciara Gibbs Research opportunities How we help Manage Cookie Preferences