Wearable non-invasive neuroprosthesis for targeted sensory restoration in neuropathy

• A wearable, non-invasive neuroprosthesis can provide targeted sensory restoration in neuropathy.¹
• The approach enables sensory restoration without surgery and is applicable to neuroprosthetics pipelines.^{1 1}

Weekly enrichment (2026-07-20)

• The device is named NeuroStep, a wearable non-invasive sensory neuroprosthesis described in Nature Communications (Gozzi, Chee et al.), led by Stanisa Raspopovic’s group at MedUni Vienna and ETH Zurich with Zurich and Balgrist University Hospitals.²³
• The system pairs a sensorized insole that detects gait pressure with a neuroprosthetic sock that delivers targeted transcutaneous electrical stimulation to the undamaged proximal nerve portion at the ankle, mapping ground contact to somatotopic foot sensations in real time.²³
• It was validated in a feasibility study of 14 participants with peripheral neuropathy, the most common complication of diabetes; lost foot sensations were partially restored in all 14 participants using individually calibrated neurostimulation.²⁴
• Nerve excitability was compared against a healthy reference group of N = 22, confirming that neuropathic nerves were significantly less sensitive and excitable than healthy nerves yet could still be recruited.²⁴
• A full day of NeuroStep use produced a clinically significant reduction in neuropathic pain reported as roughly 30.4% ± 9.2% in the associated preprint.⁴
• Participants improved cadence and functional gait, with larger gains in individuals at higher risk of falls, addressing a key driver of injury in diabetic neuropathy.²⁴
• fMRI showed that restored sensations activated cortical patterns overlapping the natural somatotopic representation of the foot, allowing intuitive integration of the artificial feedback without prior user training.³⁴
• Diabetic peripheral neuropathy affects up to about 50% of people with diabetes and current care is only symptomatic (analgesics, ulcer creams); NeuroStep instead targets the missing sensory feedback itself, positioning non-invasive neuromodulation as a potential disease-modifying rehabilitation tool.³²

Footnotes

1. https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiX0FVX3lxTFB3cTc4M2dBWmo0M05KQmFGbXM2WmgtR096Q1VEVzdzWjlsLWlVd3JkaFZ2QzA2bHF1VzJGRE9VTV9SZGRkNXAwMU5LdG5hdVhrRks1VDVLSktWSXM3dEg0?oc=5 ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-55152-7 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

3. https://www.meduniwien.ac.at/web/en/ueber-uns/news/2025/news-in-january-2025/neural-prosthesis-developed-for-the-treatment-of-diabetic-neuropathy/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

4. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.08.24306164 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵