Communication device to use slight body movement for ALS patients

  • Fukuda, Yoshio (Department of Mechanical System Engineering, Nagasaki University) ;
  • Yamanaka, Yuuki (Department of Mechanical System Engineering, Nagasaki University) ;
  • Tanaka, Motohiro (Department of Mechanical System Engineering, Nagasaki University) ;
  • Ishimatsu, Takakazu (Department of Mechanical System Engineering, Nagasaki University)
  • Published : 2003.10.22

Abstract

Communication device to use slight movement for serious disabled is proposed. This device is developed mainly for patients suffering from ALS or a cerebral infarction. They often have communication difficulty because of deterioration of muscular functions. Features of this device are that the device is wearable on the user’s body and that it detects the movement of eyebrow. Because of these features, it is quite easy to install the sensor on the patient’s body, not like the conventional sensors. Furthermore, an adaptive communication software is incorporated. A feature of this software is that the arrangement and size of the button and window on the display can be optimized depending on the user's physical ability. In the field test it is confirmed that the communication device developed in this study is successfully helped the people with disability for increasing their communication ability.

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