Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Implant Reads Paralyzed Man's Thoughts, Lets Him 'Speak' Again
The Wall Street Journal: Brain Implant Lets Man ‘Speak’ After Being Silent For More Than A Decade
Researchers in California reported Wednesday that they had developed and successfully tested an experimental brain implant that translates brain signals into words on a computer screen. The achievement, described in a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, marks a step toward technology that may one day help people speak by thinking. It also offers a glimmer of hope for the thousands of people who each year lose the ability to speak as a result of injury or illness. (Winkler, 7/14)
AP: Device Taps Brain Waves To Help Paralyzed Man Communicate
In a medical first, researchers harnessed the brain waves of a paralyzed man unable to speak — and turned what he intended to say into sentences on a computer screen. It will take years of additional research but the study, reported Wednesday, marks an important step toward one day restoring more natural communication for people who can’t talk because of injury or illness. “Most of us take for granted how easily we communicate through speech,” said Dr. Edward Chang, a neurosurgeon at the University of California, San Francisco, who led the work. “It’s exciting to think we’re at the very beginning of a new chapter, a new field” to ease the devastation of patients who lost that ability. (Neergaard, 7/14)
The New York Times: Tapping Into The Brain To Help A Paralyzed Man Speak
He has not been able to speak since 2003, when he was paralyzed at age 20 by a severe stroke after a terrible car crash. Now, in a scientific milestone, researchers have tapped into the speech areas of his brain — allowing him to produce comprehensible words and sentences simply by trying to say them. When the man, known by his nickname, Pancho, tries to speak, electrodes implanted in his brain transmit signals to a computer that displays them on the screen. His first recognizable sentence, researchers said, was, “My family is outside.” (Belluck, 7/14)
The Washington Post: His Voice Silenced For Years, A Man Can Now Communicate Using Only The Electrical Impulses From His Brain
The 38-year-old man, who chose to remain anonymous but is dubbed BRAVO-1 in the study, suffered a brain stem stroke 15 years ago that severed the neural connection between his brain and his vocal cords. He is paralyzed from the neck down and has been communicating by painstakingly tapping letters on a keyboard with a pointer attached to the bill of a baseball cap. Now, merely by trying to utter words, he has 50 at his disposal and can create short sentences that primarily concern his well-being and care. A computer decodes his brain activity and displays the sentences on a screen with a median accuracy of about 75 percent, at a rate of more than 15 words per minute. Average conversational speech occurs at about 150 words per minute. (Bernstein, 7/14)
Stat: Researchers Use Machine Learning To Translate Brain Signals Into Text
Assistive technologies such as handheld tablets and eye-tracking devices are increasingly helping give voice to individuals with paralysis and speech impediments who otherwise would not be able to communicate. Now, researchers are directly harnessing electrical brain activity to help these individuals. In a study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, describe an approach that combines a brain-computer interface and machine learning models that allowed them to generate text from the electrical brain activity of a patient paralyzed because of a stroke. (Lloreda, 7/14)
