Application — Cortical surface
WIMAGINE epidural BCI exoskeleton trial, Clinatec Grenoble (NCT02550522)
Lab or organization
WIMAGINE epidural BCI exoskeleton trial (NCT02550522)
The ongoing Clinatec trial of the WIMAGINE wireless epidural ECoG implant for motor restoration in tetraplegia, best known for the 24-month proof-of-concept in which one participant drove a virtual avatar and a four-limb exoskeleton from decoded epidural signals. Registry facts are from ClinicalTrials.gov (verified October 28, 2026); results are from the peer-reviewed Lancet Neurology report and a follow-up stability study.
Study facts
| Field | Value and source scope |
|---|---|
| Registry | NCT02550522; interventional, single-group, treatment purpose, no masking [1] |
| Official title | Brain Computer Interface: Neuroprosthetic Control of a Motorized Exoskeleton [1] |
| Sponsor and site | University Hospital, Grenoble; CLINATEC, Grenoble, France [1] |
| Status | Recruiting [1] |
| Dates | Started September 2015; primary completion and study completion estimated April 2033 [1] |
| Enrollment | 5 (estimated) [1] |
| Population | Traumatic tetraplegia with cervical cord injury [1] |
| Intervention | BCI platform with two implanted, remotely powered epidural ECoG recording devices driving an exoskeleton [1] |
| Primary outcome | Number of participants with adverse events, 4 years after surgery [1] |
| Secondary outcomes | Performance in piloting the degrees of freedom of the exoskeleton; quality-of-life evaluation (both 4 years after surgery) [1] |
Published results
| Field | Value and source scope |
|---|---|
| Cohort | Two participants recruited into the ongoing trial; one excluded after a technical problem with the implants; the remaining participant was a 28-year-old man with C4-C5 tetraplegia [2] |
| Implant | Two bilateral wireless epidural recorders, 64 electrodes each, over the upper-limb sensorimotor areas [2] |
| Reporting window | June 12, 2017 to July 21, 2019; 24 months of progressive training [2] |
| Performance | Cortical control of a walking simulation and bimanual, multi-joint upper-limb movements with eight degrees of freedom: 64.0% (SD 5.1) success with a virtual avatar at home, 70.9% (SD 11.6) with the exoskeleton in the laboratory [2] |
| Decoder stability | Decoding models reusable for up to about 7 weeks without recalibration [2] |
| Recorder stability | A 2021 follow-up characterized the long-term stability of the chronic WIMAGINE epidural recorders in tetraplegic patients [3] |
Primary sources
- ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02550522. Verified October 28, 2026.
- Benabid et al., An exoskeleton controlled by an epidural wireless brain-machine interface in a tetraplegic patient: a proof-of-concept demonstration, Lancet Neurology 2019;18(12):1112-1122. Peer reviewed.
- Larzabal et al., Long-term stability of the chronic epidural wireless recorder WIMAGINE in tetraplegic patients, Journal of Neural Engineering 2021;18(5). Peer reviewed.