Stroke Survivor Gains Voice Back With Revolutionary Brain Implant
A woman who had been unable to speak for nearly two decades due to a stroke has regained her voice through groundbreaking technology. A newly developed brain implant now translates her thoughts into speech in real-time, allowing her to communicate again after 18 years. This advancement marks a significant breakthrough in the field of brain-computer interfaces.
The 47-year-old woman, who has quadriplegia, participated in a clinical trial where doctors surgically implanted the device. Unlike previous systems that experience delays, this new technology provides immediate responses, making conversations smoother and more natural. According to Gopala Anumanchipalli, an assistant professor at UC Berkeley and co-author of the study published in Nature Neuroscience, the implant effectively converts her intent to speak into fluent sentences.
The system operates by recording the woman’s brain activity through electrodes as she silently imagines speaking. Using artificial intelligence, researchers trained a model to translate her brain signals into speech. Additionally, they synthesized her voice using recordings from before her stroke, recreating the sounds she would have originally made. The device processes and transmits small speech units in just 80 milliseconds, ensuring near-instantaneous communication.
Experts in the field, such as Jonathan Brumberg from the University of Kansas, recognize this as a major advancement, particularly because it enables a more natural and fluid way of speaking. While further research is needed, sustained investment in this technology could make it available to patients within the next decade. Researchers emphasize the importance of continued funding to refine the system and expand its accessibility to more individuals with speech impairments.
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