Goals: To restore conversational speech.

Methodology: In paralyzed patients, as in able-bodied persons, the command to speak is detectable as heightened electrical activity within a strip of the brain called Broca's motor area.

From: Click to Open Web Page

Neural Signal's patented neurotrophic electrode will be implanted to detect electrical activity in Broca's area. The electrical data recorded by the electrode will be exported to command a computer that speaks out a phoneme for every electrical event or spike. There are 39 phonemes in English, so controlling the spikes (and hence the phonemes) should allow a patient to reconstruct speech.

Availability: Systems are available as a therapeutic device under research protocols. Research and Development Collaborators: 1) Dr. Hui Mao of Emory University - Dept. of Neuroradiology 2) Dinal Andreasen and Prof. Paul Hasler of the Georgia Institute of Technology 3) Prof. Mark Clements of the Georgia Institute of Technology 4) Prof. Andrew Schwartz and Dr. Meel Velliste of the University of Pittsburgh

Data Sharing: Neural Signals has made the clinical data obtained during the Speech Prosthesis Project available for other researchers at the following website.