On Jul. 16, 2026, the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research announced findings featured in Nature Medicine demonstrating that its “double neural bypass” technology can restore immediate function and promote lasting neurological recovery in complete spinal cord injury. 

The study reveals how the novel hybrid brain computer interface (BCI) system combines cutting-edge BCI technology with artificial intelligence (AI) and high-precision electrical stimulation of the spinal cord and brain to achieve what was previously thought impossible: rewiring the nervous system to restore hand function in a person with complete tetraplegia. Over three years of clinical testing, the technology enabled a participant living with quadriplegia, Keith Thomas of Massapequa, NY, not only to feed himself and drink from a cup using his own hand, but also to produce persistent gains in arm strength and wrist sensation.

“This research holds promise for millions of patients, opening up potential for future research and practical clinical applications that could help hundreds of thousands of people living with paralysis. We saw this in action when Keith was able to move and feel again,” said Chad Bouton, PhD, professor in the Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine at the Feinstein Institutes and corresponding author. “This approach is a new way to treat severe paralysis — we’re not just bypassing the injury; we’re actually rewiring the nervous system. Our team of engineers, neurosurgeons and clinical research staff accomplished something that’s never been done before.”

The double neural bypass promotes neuroplasticity — the nervous system’s ability to form new connections and pathways. This dual assistive-therapeutic strategy, developed at the Feinstein Institutes, combining BCI implants with non-invasive wearable stimulation patches worn over the skin to electrically stimulate spinal cord and muscle targets, enabled recovery that persisted for months after stimulation ended, suggesting actual rewiring of damaged neural circuits.

Over 35 weeks of this intervention, Mr. Thomas achieved statistically significant increases of 86% in right arm strength and 62% in left arm strength. A man who could not lift his hands to his face at the start of the study could now independently scratch his nose and wipe his mouth.

The research team also developed a therapeutic technique called “cortical mirroring” that produced ongoing and durable restoration of tactile sensation. This approach involves recording the patterns of brain activity that occur during imagined touch, then “replaying” those patterns through electrical stimulation of the sensory cortex while simultaneously stimulating the spinal cord and skin. After approximately 25 weeks of the cortical mirroring intervention targeting the right wrist, Mr. Thomas regained the ability to feel touch in an area that had been completely insensate since his injury.

Dr. Bouton and team are now further improving the technology and planning expanded clinical trials to test the double neural bypass system in additional participants with varying levels of spinal cord injury and potentially other neurological conditions such as post-stroke movement impairment. Furthermore, the team recently completed another study demonstrating an “interhuman neural bypass” where Mr. Thomas used his brain implant to help another participant with a spinal cord injury move their hand, while he felt sensations in his fingertips when the other participant touched different objects. This interhuman BCI paradigm is exploring shared experiences through brain-body interface technology, true teamwork and cooperative rehabilitation using revolutionary bioelectronic mind-body connections of the future.