Brain implant turns paralysed man's thoughts into words

The technology, developed by researchers from University of California-San Francisco (UCSF), was able to decode words from brain activity at a rate of up to 18 words per minute with up to 93 percent accuracy.

New York: US researchers have successfully developed a ‘speech neuroprosthesis’ that has enabled a man with severe paralysis to communicate in sentences, translating signals from his brain to the vocal tract directly into words that appear as text on a screen. The technology, developed by researchers from University of California-San Francisco (UCSF), was able to decode words from brain activity at a rate of up to 18 words per minute with up to 93 percent accuracy. The man, in his late 30s, suffered a devastating brainstem stroke more than 15 years ago that severely damaged the connection between his brain and his vocal tract and limbs. Since his injury, he has had extremely limited head, neck, and limb movements, and communicates by using a pointer attached to a baseball cap to poke letters on a screen.