Electronic implant helps quadriplegics use hands

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a surgical implant that helps restore movement to a paralyzed hand. NeuroControl Corp. has introduced the $50,000 Freehand, an electronic implant that sends electric impulses to the muscles. Patients who use the Freehand are able to close their hands enough to feed themselves, pick up objects, and write. A two-inch processor is surgically implanted in a patient’s cheek and electrodes threaded under the skin to the hand and attached to the hand muscles. The electrodes replace damaged or severed nerves and restore lost motor function. A small joystick on the patient’s shoulder sends a signal to the implant to close the fingers. The company began shipping Freehand to hospitals in August and is working on a second generation, which may help more severely paralyzed patients.