Researchers in Europe say they have developed a sort of mind-reading device that can give people who are totally paralyzed a voice.
Until now, communication has been impossible for people suffering from "locked-in" syndrome, a condition in which a patient is totally paralyzed but can still think and feel emotions. Now, researchers may have found a way to help them communicate.
The researchers used what they called a "brain-computer interface," designed by neuroscientist Niels Birbaumer, to communicate with four patients in a completely locked-in state, or on the verge of it, due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's disease. With the help of the brain-computer interface, patients were able to respond to yes and no questions. An article detailing the research appeared today in the journal PLOS Biology.
"These results are, potentially, the first step towards abolition of completely locked-in states, at least for patients with ALS," the researchers wrote in their article.
MIT Technology Review reported that three of the four patients responded "yes" to the statement "I love to live," and indicated they were happy. The fourth was not asked those questions at her family's request.
The brain-computer interface goes on a person's head like a swimming cap, measuring blood flow and "changes in electrical waves emanating from the brain" using a technique called near infrared spectroscopy, according to the report.
Birbaumer told MIT Technology Review that family members of patients in the study felt "enormous" relief to be able to communicate with their loved ones once again, and learn that they still wanted to live.