'A hearing aid for the spinal cord.' New device helps people with paralysis regain motor function

Jessie Owen sustained a spinal cord injury 12 years ago, when a tree fell on her family’s car while driving over Highway 2. She broke her neck.

“When you hear that scary diagnosis...the hope leaps from you,” Owens said. “There’s not a pill or a surgery or a rehab that has ever really made meaningful progress before this moment.”

The moment Owen is referring to is the rollout of a device called ARC-EX, a spinal cord stimulator developed by medical technology company Onward Medical. The ARC-EX was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December; Harborview Medical Center is the first hospital in the world to purchase the stimulator.

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Owen has received treatment with the stimulator in physical therapy since 2018. She said she now has enough hand function to complete tasks such as tying her shoes and cutting grapes for her 2-year old twin boys.

“I can brush my hair on the very top of my head, and I couldn't do that before,” she added. "I can wash my face with an open palm where before I couldn't do that. I can open peanut butter jars. I can use two hands.”

The device will be used in clinics starting next month. It's a handheld unit, about the size of an iPad, but thicker in order to support a large enough battery to deliver high-frequency waveforms to a person’s spinal cord.

“We think of it like a hearing aid for the spinal cord,” said Chet Moritz, an engineering professor who works at UW Medicine. Moritz and a team of other experts have been studying the stimulator at the University of Washington with patients like Owen.

During a public demonstration of the ARC-EX at Harborview Medical Center on Tuesday, Moritz attached small, sticker-like disposable electrodes to the skin on Owen’s neck. Using a high-frequency waveform, the device activated Owen’s sensory nerves. As the current reached her spinal cord, Owen’s sensory nerves were able to make direct connections to her motor nerves, helping her to move her hands and arms.

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“I feel a removal of discomfort,” Owens said as she extended and stretched her arms. “Constantly, I feel tight and kind of curled up like a ball. I feel much more relaxed right now.”

While the stimulator doesn’t cause Owen’s movements to happen, it makes it easier for the spinal cord to hear what the brain wants to do, Moritz said.

“When someone tries to make a movement, that movement was previously very weak,” Moritz said. “Even if they were completely paralyzed, they’re now able to make a small movement at first, and with practice, they can gradually make bigger and bigger movements.”

Over time, Moritz said, the stimulator won't be required to make those movements.

For her part, Owen said her movements are slow — but meaningful.

“With this on the market, we are looking at significant changes and hope for people that have spinal cord injuries," Owen said.

Update notice, Thursday, 1/9/25 at 1:25 p.m.: This story has been updated to include more information about Jessie Owen's use of the ARC-EX.