https://medicalxpress.com/physiatry-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Physiatry A new study demonstrates that a person with severe paralysis caused by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) can use a brain-computer interface (BCI) at home to communicate, work and interact with the digital world—without the need for researcher support. Published in Nature Medicine, the results mark a significant step toward delivering practical assistive technology for people with severe speech and motor impairments. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-brain-interface-enables-independent-accurate.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 15:00:07 EDT news700747147 A customized throw-back video game may offer a surprisingly futuristic path to stroke recovery. In a new study, Northwestern University scientists developed a 90s-style video game to help chronic stroke survivors regain lost arm function. While wearing a small device on their impaired arm and using a laptop computer, players use their arm muscles to complete tasks such as flying a helicopter around the screen to hit a moving target. The muscle retraining helps separate the brain's uncoordinated movement signals, enabling muscles to work independently again. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-video-game-rehab-arm-movement.html Tue, 09 Jun 2026 09:00:03 EDT news700214221 Muscle spasticity is a common and often debilitating consequence of spinal cord injury that can significantly affect mobility and quality of life. Spasticity is a condition in which muscles become abnormally stiff or tight because of disrupted nerve signaling, often causing exaggerated reflexes, involuntary muscle spasms, and difficulty with movement. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-gene-therapy-approach-muscle-spasticity.html Tue, 09 Jun 2026 08:40:01 EDT news700203961 University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers report the final outcomes of a pioneering pilot clinical trial using electrical stimulation of the spinal cord to improve arm and hand mobility in people with chronic stroke in Nature Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-years-spinal-cord-arm-function.html Thu, 04 Jun 2026 05:00:01 EDT news699698402 New paper-thin piezoelectric patch sensors designed for at-home stroke rehabilitation may soon revolutionize post-stroke care by offering potential accessible, efficient rehabilitation and improving patient outcomes through self-motivated health care and entertainment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-sensors-rehab-screen-game.html Tue, 02 Jun 2026 17:40:06 EDT news699631981 Electrical stimulation of the spinal cord, such as following a spinal cord injury, has made great strides in recent years. However, high-frequency stimulation pulses, which are used in many current applications, appear less efficient at activating those nerve fibers that are believed to contribute decisively to therapeutic effects. This is the conclusion of a study conducted by an international team with the participation of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-spinal-reveal-high-frequency-pulses.html Thu, 21 May 2026 19:00:02 EDT news698593321 A lightweight robotic device that facilitates neuromuscular recovery in children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), helping them to stand unassisted, is published in Nature this week. Improved function persists after discontinuing training, demonstrating the potential for enduring recovery. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-wearable-knee-robot-children-muscle.html Thu, 21 May 2026 14:40:04 EDT news698581801 Researchers have proposed new standards into the decades-old prosthetic donations market, improving the quality of lower limb prosthetic feet by two-thirds—a major quality of life boost for recipients. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-prosthetic-feet-curb-medical-equipment.html Wed, 13 May 2026 14:00:03 EDT news697886281 A large, two-year study led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and consisting of more than 1,400 adults living with chronic pain across the United States found that people who struggle to identify and describe their emotions experience greater disruption to daily life from pain over time due to increased psychological distress. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-emotion-recognition-issues-linked-chronic.html Tue, 28 Apr 2026 14:00:06 EDT news696599761 Most war amputees experience steady improvements in pain, psychological symptoms and quality of life over time, according to a new study that followed 156 Ukrainian amputees for one year and was led by Northwestern Medicine and collaborators in Ukraine. The findings are published in the journal eClinicalMedicine. The study is the first to track over time how anxiety, depression and quality of life interact with pain in an amputee population. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-ukraine-war-amputees-pain-trauma.html Tue, 21 Apr 2026 19:30:01 EDT news695979875 Restoring both walking and sensation to patients with paraplegia is an ambitious goal—but a team of researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC, the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) is now one step closer. The team is building a fully implantable brain-computer interface (BCI) that allows patients to use their thoughts to control wearable robotic legs, known as a robotic exoskeleton. The system is designed to help patients walk while also restoring the sensation of walking. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-brain-interface-paralysis-linking-thoughts.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:20:03 EDT news695555942 Even when people with incomplete spinal cord injuries can walk, everyday functions like standing, balancing or producing steady force may remain difficult. A new study shows why. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-reveals-unseen-motor-spinal-cord.html Mon, 13 Apr 2026 18:00:06 EDT news695317201 Peripheral nerve injuries, often caused by traumatic events such as car accidents, falls or battlefield injuries, can leave patients with long-term weakness, numbness or loss of function. Despite surgery and advances in understanding and treating nerve injuries, many patients don't get all their movement or feeling back. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-gene-based-therapy-nerves-severe.html Thu, 09 Apr 2026 19:40:05 EDT news694960181 Artificial limbs look and function more like real limbs than ever before—but that's only helpful if they are used as intended. One of the main reasons amputees give for not using their body-powered prosthesis is a lack of motivation or knowledge of how to properly use them. Part of the reason for this is that compared to the time and resources devoted to improving the comfort and function of prostheses, much less attention is spent on making prosthetic training more effective. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-augmented-reality-prosthesis.html Thu, 02 Apr 2026 18:00:05 EDT news694363070 Adding TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) to outpatient physical therapy reduced movement-based pain and fatigue in patients with fibromyalgia, and the effects lasted for at least six months, according to a new study led by researchers at University of Iowa Health Care. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-tens-physical-therapy-eases-fibromyalgia.html Fri, 27 Mar 2026 13:20:03 EDT news693833701 The effects of spinal cord injuries are complex and multifaceted. People lose not only the ability to control the movement of their limbs, but also the ability to receive sensory feedback from them. Both are critical to generate the coordinated movement involved in walking. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-spinal-injury-leg-movement-sensory.html Wed, 11 Mar 2026 06:00:05 EDT news692362381 A team of researchers from Skoltech, the Federal Center for Brain and Neurotechnologies (FMBA of Russia), Lomonosov Moscow State University, and other leading organizations has released a dataset that will enable deeper study of how the brain recovers after a stroke. The work, published in Scientific Data, is the first in the world to combine long-term recordings of brain activity obtained using two advanced methods—electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The data are openly available, allowing scientists worldwide to accelerate the development of personalized rehabilitation methods and brain-computer interfaces. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-recovery.html Tue, 03 Mar 2026 18:20:03 EST news691781102