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.
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- Casey Harrell
- David M. Brandman
- MIT Technology Review
- Nature Medicine
- Nicholas Card
- Sergey D. Stavisky
- University of California, Davis
- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- brain-computer interface
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