School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering<\/a>, we have developed a pioneering device that transforms people with paralysis breath into words.<\/p>\nWe began this work originally after being contacted by Dr Atul Gaur, Consultant Anaesthetist at Leicester\u2019s Hospitals, whose immediate concern was to help patients on ventilator machines in Glenfield Hospital\u2019s critical care unit.<\/p>\n
We visited the hospital with Atul and we were very moved to see the plight of these patients, who appeared rather uncomfortable, and a bit bewildered and distressed by the fact that they could not easily communicate with their families or medical staff.<\/p>\n
Overcoming communication barriers<\/h3>\n
We felt that there must be a way to alleviate some of this distress by making it easier for them to convey simple messages.<\/p>\n
This led us to creating two final year project opportunities for our undergraduate engineers to get to grips with a real life and very worthwhile problem. The concept of the breath \u2018language\u2019 and learning really mushroomed from this early work.<\/p>\n
For those who are severely paralysed, or who lack the ability to speak normally, communication is a constant and often frustrating struggle. This is why we are on the verge of launching a trial of this Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device for those who cannot make purposeful movements such as sniffing or blinking.<\/p>\n