This technology allows patients with ALS syndrome to communicate by forming words and phrases, even though they do not have muscle control of speech. The system involves implanting a device with microelectrodes into a patient’s brain, and using special computer software to help translate brain signals.
ALS syndrome, also known as motor neuron disease or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a rare neurodegenerative disorder that affects the neurons responsible for controlling muscle movement. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), this disease causes the degeneration and eventual death of nerve cells, affecting a person’s ability to walk, talk, chew, and swallow.
Read also; This Robot Arm Controlled by Brain Power, Can Help Paralyzed People
In severe cases, the disease causes patients to lose the ability to breathe without the aid of a ventilator or other devices, and even paralyzes almost all of their muscles. When people experience paralysis of all their muscles except the muscles that control eye movement, this is known as a “locked state”.
To communicate, people in a locked state need to use assistive and augmentative communication devices. Many of these devices are controlled by eye movements or whatever facial muscles are still functioning. For example, Stephan Hawking uses a device that allows him to communicate by moving his cheek muscles.
But once a person with ALS syndrome loses the ability to move these muscles as well, they enter a “complete lock-in state” unable to communicate with family, caregivers, and the rest of the outside world. The patient in this new study (known as patient K1) had lost the ability to walk and talk by the end of 2015.
Read also; Cray X Exoskeleton, Help Workers Lift 30 Kg Weights a Day Without Making Gout
The families of patient K1 contacted two studies, namely Dr Niels Birbaumer of the Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology at the University of Tübingen in Germany, and Dr Ujwal Chaudhary of the non-profit organization ALS Voice in Mössingen, Germany. They helped manage patient K1 with a non-invasive brain-computer interface system that allowed communication with the rest of the eye movements they had.
–
