Tag Archives: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Neural Implant Enables Patients: Biomedical innovation

A paralyzed ALS patient uses a brain implant to steer a computer cursor to various targets.

Typing six words per minute may not sound very impressive. But for paralyzed people typing via a brain-computer interface (BCI), it’s a new world record.

To pull off this feat, two paralyzed people used prosthetics implanted in their brains to control computer cursors with unprecedented accuracy and speed. The experiment, reported today in Nature Medicine, was the latest from a team testing a neural system called BrainGate2. While this implant is only approved for experiments right now, researchers say this demonstration proves that such technology can be truly useful to quadriplegics, and points the way toward regular at-home use.

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“VERBALLY”-‘The new voice of the DUMB’ By Manisha Manoharan

“Verbally”, an ingenious new Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) aid launched by Intuary, on May 18,2011, previously added to the iTunes app store of the iPad in March this year, has carved out a niche for itself in providing effective functional and interactive communication to  people with speech disabilities, and thereby, ameliorating the diabolic conditions faced by them while trying to establish full interpersonal communications and social closeness and in removing the hurdles to developing their potential for education, employment and independence.
Verbally Verbally

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Brain Waves Can 'Write' on a Computer in Early Tests, Researchers Show

Neuroscientists at the Mayo Clinic campus in Jacksonville, Fla., have demonstrated how brain waves can be used to type alphanumerical characters on a computer screen. By merely focusing on the “q” in a matrix of letters, for example, that “q” appears on the monitor.

Researchers say these findings, presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society, represent concrete progress toward a mind-machine interface that may, one day, help people with a variety of disorders control devices, such as prosthetic arms and legs. These disorders include Lou Gehrig’s disease and spinal cord injuries, among many others.

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