Have you ever been stuck in a situation where you had the perfect explanation, but you couldn’t figure out what words to say? Or you have felt an emotion so deep, that you just couldn’t express it in words?
Well fortunately for you, that might not be a problem anymore!
Thanks to an amazing team composed of neuroscientists, neurosurgeons, and engineers at Duke University, they have come together to develop a brain implant that can translate a brain signal directly into words. In other words, your thoughts are expressed out loud!
This groundbreaking advancement can not only help you express what you want to say or feel, but this product will one day be able to help millions of people who are unable to speak due to neurological disorders. There will no longer be a need for these impaired individuals to rely on devices that use their eyes or the minimal movement they have to communicate!
What does it look like?
Initially, to have thoughts expressed, a paper-thin piece of material fused with brain activity sensors would be laid atop the surface of the brain.
However, because there is a limit on how many sensors they’re able to accommodate on this material, Gregory Cogan, one of the lead researchers in the project says, “The current tools available to allow them to communicate are generally very slow and cumbersome.”
The plan does not stop there though! In further research and collaboration, Cogan worked with Jonathan Viventi who has a lab specializing in making the brain sensors necessary to improve this product. With Viventi’s team, they were able to put a ground-breaking 256 microscopic brain sensors onto a small piece of flexible, medical-grade plastic.
Though there is still room for improvement, this brain implant is a great step in aiding those who are neurologically impaired or paralyzed!
