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ALS patient becomes first 'power user' of speech-enabling brain implant

By PulseAugur Editorial · [3 sources] ·

Casey Harrell, a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), has become the first "power user" of a brain-computer interface (BCI) designed to restore speech. After nearly three years and over 3,800 hours of use, Harrell can now communicate independently, surf the web, and perform his job using the implanted electrodes. The system decodes neural activity from the speech motor cortex to generate phonemes, which are then converted into words with high accuracy, expanding his vocabulary to 125,000 words. AI

IMPACT Demonstrates significant progress in BCI for restoring communication, potentially impacting assistive technology for individuals with severe speech impairments.

RANK_REASON Research milestone in brain-computer interface technology for speech restoration.

Read on Mastodon — mastodon.social →

AI-generated summary · Google Gemini · from 3 sources. How we write summaries →

ALS patient becomes first 'power user' of speech-enabling brain implant

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Research milestone in brain-computer interface technology for speech restoration.
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103 days old
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COVERAGE [3]

  1. MIT Technology Review TIER_1 English(EN) · Jessica Hamzelou ·

    This man with ALS is “the first power user” of a brain implant that lets him speak

    Casey Harrell has had a set of electrodes embedded in his brain for almost three years. Harrell, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and is paralyzed, first used his brain-computer interface (BCI) to “speak” sentences with the help of a research team in 2023. Since then, …

  2. Mastodon — mastodon.social TIER_1 English(EN) · sagalinked ·

    📰 Casey Harrell, paralyzed due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), has become the first power user of a brain implant that allows him to speak through a bra

    📰 Casey Harrell, paralyzed due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), has become the first power user of a brain implant that allows him to speak through a brain-computer interface (BCI) after using it for almost three years. 🔗 https://www. technologyreview.com/2026/06/1 5/11389…

    LINKS technologyreview.com/…/man-als-first-powe… technologyreview.com/…/1
  3. Mastodon — mastodon.social TIER_1 English(EN) · [email protected] ·

    📰 This man with ALS is “the first power user” of a brain implant that lets him speak Casey Harrell has had a set of electrodes embedded in his brain for almost

    📰 This man with ALS is “the first power user” of a brain implant that lets him speak Casey Harrell has had a set of electrodes embedded in his brain for almost three years. Harrell, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and is paralyzed, first used his brain-computer interf…

    LINKS web.archive.org/…/man-als-first-power-use… web.archive.org

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