Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS)
Electrical stimulation of the spinal cord through implanted leads or skin-surface electrodes, sold for chronic pain and now for restoring movement after spinal cord injury. Paired with a brain implant, it forms the brain-spine interfaces in trials in Switzerland and China.
Overview
Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) delivers electrical pulses to the spinal cord, from electrodes implanted along it or through pads on the skin (transcutaneous stimulation). Its established use is chronic pain, including failed-back-surgery syndrome and complex regional pain syndrome, a multi-billion-dollar category dominated by Nevro, Boston Scientific and Medtronic. Stimulation below a spinal injury can also activate surviving circuits and restore some movement.
Products and programmes
ONWARD Medical sells ARC-EX, a transcutaneous system for upper-limb function after chronic spinal cord injury, cleared by the FDA under De Novo in December 2024. It shipped 159 systems in the first half of 2026, and ARC-EX revenue rose 240 per cent to €3.4 million. ONWARD’s implanted ARC-IM stimulator is in the Empower BP pivotal study for blood pressure instability. ANEUVO’s transcutaneous ExaStim received FDA 510(k) clearance in April 2026 for clinical and home use. Italy’s WISE raised a €30 million Series D in June 2026 for Heron, a percutaneous lead with directional stimulation. CereGate, whose lead therapy runs on deep brain stimulation implants, also conducts SCS research.
Brain-spine interfaces
Pairing SCS with a brain implant lets decoded movement intent trigger stimulation. ONWARD’s ARC-BCI combines ARC-IM with the WIMAGINE epidural cortical implant from France’s CEA/Clinatec; seven people had received it by mid-2026, and it is in the FDA’s Total Product Life Cycle Advisory Program. The approach builds on work by Grégoire Courtine and Jocelyne Bloch in Lausanne. At Xuanwu Hospital in Beijing, a man who received Beinao-1 and a spinal stimulator in May 2025 moved from ASIA Grade A to Grade C after a year.
Why it matters
SCS gives brain-computer interfaces a commercial partner therapy with existing products, clinics and revenue. Whether payers will fund the brain-paired versions is the open commercial question.
Coverage on InsideBCI
- 15 October 2026: CereGate raises Series C for a Parkinson’s walking therapy
- 10 September 2026: ONWARD Medical crosses seven ARC-BCI implants as ARC-EX commercial revenue grows 240 percent in H1
- 17 June 2026: Italy’s WISE has raised €30 million for spinal cord stimulation, with ENEA Tech entering as strategic investor
- 24 May 2026: Chinese paraplegic patient regains partial sensation and movement one year after world-first combined Beinao-1 BCI and brain-spine interface surgery
- 16 April 2026: ANEUVO’s spinal stimulator clears the FDA