DTN 074: Brain Tech Breakthrough Restores ALS Patient’s Ability to Speak

Brain Tech Breakthrough Restores ALS Patient’s Ability to Speak

“Last August, Casey Harrell spoke the first clear words his five-year-old daughter could remember hearing him say, a repeat of his wedding vows to her mother. The moment was possible thanks to a wave of innovation in one of the most challenging areas of medicine: reconnecting the brain to the body once something – an accident or an illness – has severed the ties. His ability to converse stems from 256 tiny electrodes that researchers from the University of California, Davis, implanted in his brain in an almost five-hour surgical procedure last summer. It’s still early. The technology is expensive and bulky, requiring computers in Harrell’s home. It’s slow, helping him speak at 33 words minute, far below the 160 words a minute in natural speech. And the long-term performance remains unknown: Dutch researchers detailed the slow deterioration of a similar device used for seven years by a woman with severe paralysis from ALS in the same edition of the journal.” (Bloomberg)