A new interface can accurately read your thoughts and turn them into speech. This new brain-to-speech tech could help people with speech disabilities like ALS speak again. A new study showcasing the tech was published in the New England Journal of Medicine this month, and it outlines how one individual’s involvement in the study helped bring the tech to life.
The individual in the study, Casey Harrell, began showing signs of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, five years before he enrolled in the study. Because of the disease’s impact on his body, Harrell soon became unable to effectively communicate with his family, friends, and those around him.
For a little extra context, the average human can communicate roughly 160 spoken words per minute. However, ALS left Harrell able to only communicate at approximately 5-6 correct words per minute, on average just over a mean. However, once he had the new brain-to-speech tech implanted within his brain, Harrell’s ability to communicate improved greatly, and with great accuracy.
You can see the entire system in action through the video above. Based on the results showcased here, and in the study, the experiment was very successful, and this kind of tech could very well mean a revolution for people dealing with ALS and other diseases that affect human speech. The research was all led by scientists from UC Davis.
While Harrell is the first to test the new brain-to-speech tech, the results are an extremely promising step forward. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the procedure made more widely available to patients suffering from ALS and similar diseases. Bringing speech back to people who have lost that ability is just one way we can continue to bridge the gaps that diseases leave between people and their loved ones.
