HUNDREDS of thousands of stroke patients could benefit from a bionic arm breakthrough which is being launched today in Southampton.

The world's first bionic arm implant to produce co-ordinated hand and arm movement was being fitted in the city's General Hospital.

A 46-year-old hairdresser from Poole who was left partially paralysed down her left side will undergo the operation so that she can play netball once again.

If successful, Fran Read will be able to extend her elbow and wrist and open her hand properly for the first time since suffering a stroke nine years ago followed by a second one in 2002.

The system is designed to provide electrical stimulation to control and re-educate weak or paralysed muscles, so patients who have suffered damage to the central nervous system after a stroke can regain movement.

Five microstimulators were implanted close to the nerves supplying muscles in Fran's arm last month.

Today she will be fitted with a cuff which will send signals to the microstimulators.

The system will then be programmed to produce functional patterns of movement which will help her arm to re-learn movements lost after the stroke.

While similar devices have been implanted in patients' arms or shoulders in the US, Canada and Japan, it is the first time an operation has taken place to achieve a co-ordinated hand and arm movement according to scientists from Southampton University.

Dr Jane Burridge, senior lecturer in neuro-rehabilitation said: "Following a stroke, between 30 per cent and almost 66 per cent of patients have problems regaining upper limb function.

"Many therapeutic approaches to recovery are available, though controversy exists about their effectiveness.

"However, until now electronic stimulation devices have not been well accepted, mainly because with surface systems people have difficulty putting the electrodes in the correct place to achieve a useful movement and implanted systems have involved major surgery.

"This study aims to address both these issues. Because the system is implanted, electrodes do not need to be placed on the skin and because individual muscles are activated, a more functional, natural movement is possible."

She added that because the electrodes were so small, measuring 1.7 centimetres long and 2.4 millimetres in diameter, they could be implanted into many different muscles to provide fine movements that are essential for hand and arm function.

The cylindrical microstimulators are injected into the body through a small incision and implanted next to a nerve.

Once implanted the microstimulators receive power and stimulation commands via a link from a radio frequency coil fitted to the arm, which is in turn connected to a control unit.

The operation is the latest stage in a long-term experimental research study by Southampton University in partnership with the Alfred Mann Foundation.