A major breakthrough occurred for the scientific and medical community. Those who have lost the ability to move their bodies had been given a chance to show their families and doctors what they are going through. A study was recently conducted on four patients with no control over their bodies, to create a way to give the patients a way to communicate with others. The four individuals participating in the trials were all affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a condition where the brain experiences loss of control over the muscles in the body; they were incapable of moving even their eyes.

In regards to the new technology used in this process, researchers utilized the correlation between the color of human blood in response to neurological activity. This is a phenomenon where brain cell activity influences oxygen levels in the body, which then influence the color of the patient’s blood. Near-infrared spectroscopy is then used, which is a light capable of distinguishing between the particular shades of blood within the body and detects what state the brain is in. This method of translating information from the human body to a computer has proven to be quite effective: an accuracy rate of 75% on average. The only drawbacks of this process is that it can currently only be applied to yes-no type questions, and the patient must be asked several times to ensure the accuracy of the response.

The patients undergoing this kind of testing testify that being able to interact with those around them has proven to be extremely relieving. Professor John Donoghue, director of the WYSS Center in Switzerland, told BBC News: “If a person who is totally locked-in is able to communicate, you’re freeing the mind to interact with the world around them.” And indeed it has; the system is currently being used for practical purposes, such as expressing pain levels, answering to questions relating to their health, as well as replying to their loved ones in everyday speech.