Wireless brain implant to restore speech
A Wireless micro-ECoG Prosthesis for Speech
This project will use a tiny wireless brain implant plus AI to translate speech-related brain signals into spoken words for people who can no longer speak.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Duke University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Durham, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11190793 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
A high-density, fully implanted electrode array will sit on the surface of the brain to record detailed speech signals. Engineers will use over 1,000 channels to capture fine-scale brain activity and train machine learning models to map those signals to words. The team is also building wireless hardware so the system can be used outside the lab in everyday settings. If I were a participant, I would have surgery for the implant and return for training and testing sessions to help the system learn my brain patterns.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are people with severe speech loss from ALS, locked-in syndrome, or similar neuromuscular conditions who can tolerate brain surgery and repeated follow-up visits.
Not a fit: People who cannot undergo brain surgery, who have non-neurological causes of speech loss, or who have severe cognitive impairment are unlikely to benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could let people who cannot speak communicate faster and more naturally by turning brain signals into audible speech.
How similar studies have performed: Previous brain-computer interface work has enabled basic communication with implanted electrodes or ECoG, but decoding fluent speech with high‑channel wireless implants remains largely experimental and novel.
Where this research is happening
Durham, United States
- Duke University — Durham, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Viventi, Jonathan — Duke University
- Study coordinator: Viventi, Jonathan
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.