The first real-time brain-scanning speller will allow people in an apparent vegetative state (unable to speak or move) to communicate, according to Maastricht University scientists.
The new technology builds on earlier uses of fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) brain scans by Adrian Owen and colleagues to assess consciousness by enabling patients to answer yes and no questions. fMRI tracks brain activity by measuring blood flow.
“The work led me to wonder whether it might even become possible to use fMRI, mental tasks, and appropriate experimental designs to freely encode thoughts, letter-by-letter, and therewith enable back-and-forth communication in the absence of motor behavior,” said Bettina Sorger of Maastricht University in The Netherlands.
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