A promising non-invasive technique can help paralysed limbs move

Ms Reid’s remarkable—if incomplete—recovery required neither surgery nor medication, but, rather, exercise and electricity. She was one of 60 patients from test sites across three countries to receive a novel form of non-invasive spinal-cord stimulation, known as ARCEX, pioneered by Grégoire Courtine of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and colleagues. The results of the trial, published in Nature Medicine on May 20th, suggest it may have a promising future.