A study published on Monday (June 15) in the journal Nature reports that a brain implant is enabling a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to communicate with his family and even continue working.
In 2023, surgeons implanted a device with 256 microelectrodes into Casey Harrell’s brain and installed the system in his home. Diagnosed with ALS six years ago, he uses it to turn brain signals into text on a screen, enabling him to communicate with family and return to work as a lawyer.
Patient describes emotional impact of brain implant restoring communication and relationships
“It’s nothing short of extraordinary. The device allows me to continue working to help my family and is reconnecting me with friends and family who are ashamed or afraid to visit me and not be able to understand me,” he said in an interview with a specialist publication.
Researchers at the University of California, Davis, note that the dataset presented is the largest of its kind collected so far. Harrell initially trained the system in a lab setting before successfully using it at home.
The system is even capable of producing spoken versions of certain phrases by recreating the patient’s voice using recordings made before his diagnosis.
Casey produces 183,000+ sentences as system learns mouse-control signals
Casey generates 183,060 sentences with 92% accuracy as software learns mouse-control intentions
The research, which tracked Casey over 678 days, indicates that the technology remains effective even without constant supervision from scientists. Future developments aim to make the system fully portable and wireless, so the patient can use it outside his home.
Read the original article on: metropoles
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