Trials to send e-mail using brain waves to begin; could help those disabled by ALS, cerebral palsy or high-level spinal-cord injuries

Now That’s Using Your Brain

Typing an e-mail with your fingers is a snap. But what if you could do it with your brain?

Brain-wave typing could become reality in just a few years. It would open up a world of communication with caregivers and loved ones for people disabled by ALS, cerebral palsy or high-level spinal-cord injuries. With little or no muscle control, communicating clearly, or even at all is difficult, if not impossible.

Researchers in the brain-computer interface, or BCI, Group at New York State Public Health Department’s Wadsworth Center are enrolling patients in trials of a system that could enable them to send e-mail and communicate using their brain waves. They hope to have five to 10 people testing the interface by June.

By Rachel Metz

Full Story: http://www.wired.com/news/technology/medtech/0,70568-0.html?tw=wn_index_5