Paralyzed Man Speaks and Asks for Beer Using His Mind Through Microchip Brain Implant

The future where it becomes possible to give orders without uttering words and only using thoughts is here. A German patient who was 30 years old when diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) was able to communicate in complete sentences for the first time in many years.

The condition is a progressive nervous system disease that affects brain cells and the spinal cord that cause loss of muscle control. But using the microchip brain implant, the paralyzed man was able to ask for a beer using only his thoughts. This futuristic technology is indeed a noteworthy breakthrough in the medical industry.

(Photo : Pixabay/PublicDomainPictures)
Microchip Brain Implant Enabled Paralyzed Man to "Speak" and Ask for Beer Using Just His Thoughts

Microchip Brain Implant Helps Man Control Movement

Since the paralyzed man was diagnosed with ALS, his condition worsened and his family feared he would ultimately lose all muscle control.

As part of the study titled "Spelling Interface Using Intracortical Signals in a Completely Locked-in Patient Enabled via Auditory Neurofeedback Training" published in Nature Communications, medics installed two microchip implants to his brain's motor cortex that measure about 1.5 mm across.

According to the UK news outlet Metro, the paralyzed man was trained by researchers to imagine physical movements to try and get a reliable signal from his brain. The signals were translated into a command, which initially failed.

So, study researchers Ujwal Chaudhary and Niels Birbaumer tried neurofeedback to show the man his brain activity in real time, hoping to teach him to control them. A computer would play a rising audio tone when the electrodes of the brain implant recorded an increase in activity, but a low brain activity would result in a descending tone. It took him two days to learn to control the frequency of the tone.

Then the team mimicked a technique that the man's family did to him before his condition progressed. They would hold up a grid of letters against four colors and point to each of them and interpret an eye movement as a "yes." Researchers used software in which the man would hear the words of color following an individual letter.

The rising and descending tones would indicate his selection or dismissal of the letter to allow him to communicate entire sentences. Although it takes him at least a minute to select one letter, in a way, it seems that he is already speaking with his mind.

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Paralyzed Man Makes Significant Progress Using the Microchip Brain Implant

It was in 2015 when the unidentified German patient was diagnosed with ALS. He was just 30 years old back then. Although his body has become weak, his cognitive function has remained intact. When his condition worsened, he used eye movement to communicate with his family.

According to LAD Bible, the man was now able to make significant progress and has been able to "speak" to his loved ones with his mind after receiving the microchip brain implant.

Researchers said that the man was able to spell out his name and his son's and wife's names before moving to master communicating complete sentences. Chaudhary said that one of the first sentences the man managed to spell out was: "Boys, it works so effortlessly."

At times when Chaudhary would stay with him until past midnight, he said the paralyzed man's last word of the day would always be "beer." Chaudhary's foundation is seeking funding to provide the technology for people with severe ALS, which he estimates would cost up to $500,000 (£378,932) for the first two years of its operation.