Brain implant lets 'Locked-in' ALS patient communicate

[OrbitalDawn]

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-...al&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

A high-tech implant has enabled a paralyzed woman with late-stage ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) to communicate through brain signaling, researchers say.

The degenerative disease robbed Hanneke De Bruijne, 58, of all voluntary muscle control—including the ability to speak—while leaving her mind intact.

But an experimental implant-software program allows the "locked-in" Dutch woman to type words without assistance.

The brain implant "lets her remote-control a computer with her brain, at home, without any help from researchers," said study co-author Nick Ramsey.

"She can spell two letters per minute," said Ramsey, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands. In this way, she can convey her needs to her caregivers, he said.

An estimated 30,000 Americans may have ALS, according to the ALS Association. It is also called Lou Gehrig's disease after the legendary baseball player who died of the fatal disorder in 1941. People with the disease eventually lose the ability to swallow and breathe.

Ramsey explained that the cutting-edge setup enables the patient to "make brain-clicks with which she selects letters on a keyboard displayed on a computer screen, and that way spell letter by letter."

 

[wombling]

Pretty cool. Give it a decade or 10 more and we will be closer to being borgs.

 

[Tacet]

As a concept this is very cool! I wonder how fast it will be possible to eventually get. As is it is not very practical. Yes, this was just a PoC, so we can probably expect more if they work a bit more on the solution.

2 letters a minute:

3 minutes for "toilet"
3.5 minutes for "thirsty"

 

[werfie]

As a concept this is very cool! I wonder how fast it will be possible to eventually get. As is it is not very practical. Yes, this was just a PoC, so we can probably expect more if they work a bit more on the solution.

2 letters a minute:

3 minutes for "toilet"
3.5 minutes for "thirsty"

Well, I would imagine they would develop a "list of codes" for most basic requirements, which will allow her to just type "A", "B" for some things: A=Toilet, B=Thirsty, C=Tired... or whatever.

 

[Slootvreter]

"Communicate"

But yeah, this is a step forward. Hopefully progress will be made soon.

If it was me though, I'd rather have the judicial process adjusted to allow me to be euthanized.

 

[Slootvreter]

As a concept this is very cool! I wonder how fast it will be possible to eventually get. As is it is not very practical. Yes, this was just a PoC, so we can probably expect more if they work a bit more on the solution.

2 letters a minute:

3 minutes for "toilet"
3.5 minutes for "thirsty"

"Toilet"

I am not too familiar with ALS and it's workings, so I'm not sure if it robs you of sensation as well, but if it's anything like quadriplegia, you will not even feel the need to go to the toilet

 

[Tacet]

Well, I would imagine they would develop a "list of codes" for most basic requirements, which will allow her to just type "A", "B" for some things: A=Toilet, B=Thirsty, C=Tired... or whatever.

Could be. They don't really explain the mechanism by which she inputs - they merely say that trying to move her hand simulates clicks. So we don't know if she can move the cursos to select things, or if they use a Morse-like system where 1 click is "A", two clicks is "B".

However, the fact is that they can pick up relevant brain activity, and translate it into something meaningful. If they can really expand on this the possibilities are endless, as it would make for much more seamless man-machine communication.