Multimedia Gallery
The Discovery FilesA wearable sensor to help ALS patients communicate
Researchers have designed a skin-like device that can measure small facial movements in patients who have lost the ability to speak. Using this approach, patients could communicate a variety of sentiments using small movements that are analyzed by a handheld processing unit. The work was led by researchers at MIT's Conformable Decoders group, with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Credit: National Science Foundation/Karson Productions
Face time.
I'm Bob Karson with the Discovery Files, new advances in science and engineering -- from the U.S. National Science Foundation.
ALS, a neuromuscular disease, slowly takes away muscle control and eventually, often the ability to speak.
(Sound effect: Stephen Hawking:) "Technology has transformed the outlook for the disabled." The familiar synthesized voice of the late Stephen Hawking was possible through a complex system that detected twitches of his cheek to move a cursor and spell words. While effective, the system Hawking used is bulky, expensive and time-consuming.
For researchers at MIT, a chance meeting with the physicist became inspiration to create a face-based, more natural communication system for ALS patients.
A thin, flexible patch worn on the cheek, with sensors that detect subtle movements of the skin and send that info to a handheld processor, where it's analyzed. The researchers trained their algorithm to distinguish between a smile, open mouth, and pursed lips. When tested with two ALS patients, it was spot-on about three quarters of the time.
By using different combinations of small, detectable movements, a whole library of messages could be created with the help of this portable, inexpensive, unobtrusive patch. Helping ALS patients express themselves and bringing a loved one back into the conversation.
"The discovery files" covers projects funded by the government's National Science Foundation. Federally sponsored research -- brought to you, by you! Learn more at nsf.gov or on our podcast.
Images and other media in the National Science Foundation Multimedia Gallery are available for use in print and electronic material by NSF employees, members of the media, university staff, teachers and the general public. All media in the gallery are intended for personal, educational and nonprofit/non-commercial use only.
Images credited to the National Science Foundation, a federal agency, are in the public domain. The images were created by employees of the United States Government as part of their official duties or prepared by contractors as "works for hire" for NSF. You may freely use NSF-credited images and, at your discretion, credit NSF with a "Courtesy: National Science Foundation" notation.
Additional information about general usage can be found in Conditions.