Brain scanner can help the paralysed communicate A new brain
scanning machine has been built which the developers state can
help people who are completely paralysed to communicate because
it is able to convert their thoughts into words. Using
functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI), it helps patients
choose 27 characters to spell words. The 27th character is a
blank space. The study, which appears in the Current Biology
journal from Cell Press, says that the technique identifies
different blood patterns in the brain and interprets them to
know what letter the person is thinking of. The technique has
been used successfully by British neuroscientist Adrian Owen. He
helped a man who had been in a vegetative state for more than
five years to answer questions with yes and no answers from his
brain activity. One of the key researchers, Bettina Sorger of
Maastricht University in Holland, told the BBC: "This novel
spelling device constitutes an alternative approach to motor-
independent communication. "The work o