Developing muscle-implanted interfaces to control assistive devices
Spinal cord injury can leave people unable to move their hands and arms, reducing independence. Even with complete paralysis, some voluntary nerve activity can remain below the injury. Existing interfaces face trade-offs between accuracy, invasiveness and long-term stability when accessing these signals.
AxonCtrl is developing a muscle-implanted interface to translate nerve signals into commands for assistive devices. Its research programme combines tiny electrodes, AI decoding and planned wireless electronics to help people with paralysis control wheelchairs and digital interfaces.
What stands out about AxonCtrl
Awarded £49,389 by Innovate UK for AI-Powered Motor Interface for Neural Decoding, with funding from November 2025 to April 2026.
Imperial College London lists AxonCtrl among the spinout companies formed in its 2025/2026 cohort.
Precursor NaturalBionicS research showed that people with complete paralysis could voluntarily modulate residual motor-neuron activity.
Founder Dario Farina is an Imperial bioengineering professor leading the AxonCtrl neural-interface research project.
Founder Dario Farina also co-founded Neubond, an Imperial spinout developing wearable biofeedback technology for stroke rehabilitation.
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