People who suffer from ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease often lose their ability to speak. Although the disease paralyzes their body, a new research project at East Tennessee State University could eventually bring a voice to those people.
ETSU scientists are testing what's called a brain-computer interface. It records brainwaves and in a matter of 10 to 20 seconds, types the letter the person is focusing in on on a computer screen, all without the person's hands ever touching a keyboard. Once the word is complete, a computer program can say the word through a speaker.
"You can type using your brainwaves instead of your fingers essentially," ETSU Assistant Psychology Professor Dr. Eric Sellers said. “When people become more disabled, they lose ability to communicate and this can become a new communication channel.”
Sellers brought the new technology to ETSU in 2008. Just recently, he began testing it on local ALS patients and the groundbreaking study already has success stories.
"With my collaborators with the Wadsworth Center in New York, we have five people using the systems in their homes on a daily basis, all of which have no ability to independently communicate otherwise,” Sellers said.
In the coming months, Sellers hopes more ALS patients will participate in the study.
“If anyone would like to participate in the research, we certainly have the capability to test people in their homes or here in the lab,” Sellers said.
ETSU is using a combined $1.2 million dollars in grant money to research the brain-computer interface. The university is one of just a handful nationwide participating in such a study.
To learn more about the study or to participate, visit Sellers’ website: http://www.etsu.edu/CAS/BCILAB/
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