电极将脑电波转译成文字

In a first step toward helping severely paralyzed people communicate more easily, Utah researchers have shown that it is possible to translate recorded brain waves into words, using a grid of electrodes placed directly on the brain.

首先为了帮助更方便的与严重瘫痪病人的沟通，犹他州的研究人员表示使用直接放置于大脑的电极支架就很有可能将记录的脑电波转译成文字。

Although they have only done it with one person and individual words can only be identified with accuracy in tests 50% of the time, the study reported Tuesday provides a ray of hope for people who can now communicate only by blinking, or wiggling a fingertip.

尽管他们此次只在一个人实施了此项技术并且个别文字50%的准确识别，这个星期二提交的报告为只能通过眨眼或手指沟通的人们带了一线希望

"This is quite a simple technology … based on devices that have been used in humans for 50 years now," said bioengineer Bradley Greger of the University of Utah, the lead author of a report in the Journal of Neuroengineering, “we'll be able to decode more words and, in two or three years get approval for a real feasibility trial in paralyzed patients," he said.

“这是个很简单的技术..源于到现在已经在身体中使用了50多年的设备”犹他州大学的生物工程师布拉德利.格勒热说—神经工程学刊物一篇报告的主要作者，“我们将解译出更多的词语，以便在两三年内为在严重瘫痪病人中测试得到同意

The device could benefit people who have been paralyzed by stroke, Lou Gehrig's disease or trauma and are "locked in" — aware but unable to communicate except, perhaps, by blinking an eyelid or arduously moving a cursor to pick out letters or words from a list.

这个设备得益于因为中风而瘫痪、路葛瑞症或精神创伤和“对现实感觉不敏感”—有意识但不能沟通除外，通过眨眼睛或艰难移动游标的方法从列表中辨别出字母或词语

Researchers have made tremendous strides in developing ways for patients to move a computer cursor or even an artificial arm using electrodes implanted in the brain. But researchers have been reluctant to implant electrodes in the speech centers for fear of causing irreversible damage.

研究者们花费很大的精力研究各种方法使病人移动计算机游标或者甚至使用通过植入大脑电极控制的人工手臂。但是科研人员因为怕引起不可逆转的破坏而拒绝向语言中枢植入电极

Some researchers have been attempting to "read" speech centers in the brain using electrodes placed on the scalp. But such electrodes "are so far away from the electrical activity that it gets blurred out," Greger said.

一些科研人员已经尝试通过置于大脑表层的电极读取语言中枢的信息，但是这些电极“离这些被混杂的电子活动太远”格勒热说。

He and his colleagues instead use arrays of tiny microelectrodes that are placed in contact with the brain, but not implanted. In the current study, they used two arrays, each with 16 microelectrodes. The arrays were placed directly on the brain of a volunteer patient with epilepsy whose skull had already been opened to measure aberrant electrical signals that trigger seizures.

他和他的同事取而代之的是使用与置于大脑与之通信的微型无线通信陈列，却不植入。在现在的研究中，他们使用了两组阵列，每个阵列16个微型无线通信装置。这些陈列被直接放置于患有癫痫病的志愿者（为了控制引起发作的异常电信号而已经将头颅被打开过）的大脑中。

The team tested 10 words, such as "yes," "no," "hungry" and "thirsty," that a patient might need. The volunteer spoke each word 31 to 96 times while the researchers measured brain waves.

这个研究组测试10个词组，如病人需要的“是”，“不”，“饥饿”和“渴”。在研究人员测试脑电脑时志愿者说每个词31到96次

In the best case, the researchers could correctly distinguish between two words, such as "yes" and "no," 90% of the time. But when trying to distinguish among all 10 words, their best accuracy was 48%.

在最好的例子中，研究人员能够正确区分两个词，如“是”和“不是”有90%的机率。但是如果尝试从10个词中做辨认，他们最好的正确率是48%。

Greger believes the accuracy can be improved by using more electrodes, and the team is now working with grids of 121 sensors.

格勒热相信通过使用更多的电极能够提高准确率，而且这个研究小组现在也在尝试121个感应器的栅极。