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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIn a first, brain implant lets man with complete paralysis spell out thoughts: 'I love my cool son.'
https://www.science.org/content/article/first-brain-implant-lets-man-complete-paralysis-spell-out-thoughts-i-love-my-cool-sonSurgically placed electrodes enable person with late-stage ALS to communicate via neural signals
22 MAR 2022 12:00 PM
BY KELLY SERVICK
In its final stages, the neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) can bring extreme isolation. People lose control of their muscles, and communication may become impossible. But with the help of an implanted device that reads his brain signals, a man in this complete locked-in state could select letters and form sentences, researchers report this week.
People have really doubted whether this was even feasible, says Mariska Vansteensel, a brain-computer interface researcher at the University Medical Center Utrecht who was not involved in the study, published in Nature Communications. If the new spelling system proves reliable for all people who are completely locked inand if it can be made more efficient and affordableit might allow thousands of people to reconnect to their families and care teams, says Reinhold Scherer, a neural engineer at the University of Essex.
ALS destroys the nerves that control movement, and most patients die within 5 years of diagnosis. When a person with ALS can no longer speak, they can use an eye-tracking camera to select letters on a screen. Later in the diseases progression, they can answer yes-or-no questions with subtle eye movements. But if a person chooses to prolong their life with a ventilator, they may spend months or years able to hear but not communicate.
In 2016, Vansteensels team reported that a woman with ALS could spell out sentences with a brain implant that detected attempts to move her hand. But this person still had minimal control of some eye and mouth muscles. It wasnt clear whether a brain that has lost all control over the body can signal intended movements consistently enough to allow meaningful communication.
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FreepFryer
(7,077 posts)ck4829
(34,977 posts)Trueblue Texan
(2,372 posts)...who has one of the devices with a screen he looks at to select words and letters, maybe phrases, as well. Once he forms the sentence he somehow directs the device to speak the sentence. But I don't think he has any implant to make it work. I'm not really sure though. It's a pretty cool device but it takes a lot of practice for him to use it and like most clients, he doesn't always feel like jacking with it. He seems to have plenty of financial resources so maybe for him it's not important that the contraption is so expensive.
CrackityJones75
(2,403 posts)I think thats what it was called. In elementary school there was a special needs classroom down the hall from me. I can remember in 3rd grade going and sitting with a boy who I was partnered with and reading to him. He could communicate with something called (I believe) a rebus board which had words and phrases and letters and numbers on it. He would point to the items on the board to communicate.