The key to restoring the movement and communication ability of severely disabled people may be found in the roof of the mouth.
By: Faris Jaber
Researchers have invented a device that allows paralyzed people to write, surf the Internet and steer an electric wheelchair, all by sniffing. First tests, recently described in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that patients with severe paralysis may soon be able to manage their daily lives in a new way.
The act of sniffing is controlled to some extent by cranial nerves located in the soft palate, the tissue located at the back of the roof of the mouth. These nerves exit directly from the brain, and not from the spinal cord, so in many cases of paralysis they are not damaged. These nerves also control the ability to blink, inhale and exhale.
The sniffing sensor, developed by Anton Plotkin and his colleagues at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, is located inside a small plastic tube that is inserted into the nose. It measures pressure and translates changes in intensity and frequency of sniffing into commands that activate a computer or a wheelchair.
In their study, the scientists tested the device on 15 disabled patients. Of these, 13 were able to write messages or surf the Internet using this technology and one even managed to navigate the wheelchair. (The 15th volunteer showed no progress.) Although more testing is needed, Plotkin is optimistic: "I found that with sniffing you can control virtually anything."
