AI is Helping ALS Patients Preserve Their Voices

ALS patients are using AI to help preserve their voices and their ability to speak. In a report by CBS, Brian Jeansonne spoke about his illness and the process of recording his voice now while he still was able to. The process called voice preservation uses AI to allow Jeansonne to take his speaking ability.

This new technology is being used at Boston Children’s Hospital where patients are able to record their voices and play them back once they lose their ability to speak. While speaking to CBS News, Jeansonne described the fear of losing one’s voice, and the hope given by this new AI-powered technology. He said in part, “Imagine having no way to communicate your wants or needs or your love,…Voice preservation gives that back to us. This, in many ways, saved my life.”

Speaking of the technology, Jeansonne said, “I am amazed by it,…That fact that I can sound kind of like me is a true gift to me and my family.” Currently, the technology costs $1,000 but there are non-profits working to help cover the costs.

ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease and is a neurodegenerative illness that results in patients losing the ability to move and speak. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent, an average of 5,000 people are diagnosed with the illness in the United States.

John Costello, director of the Augmentative Communication Program at Boston Children’s Hospital spoke about this new technology requires view messages and provides better results. “It’s allowing people to have to record fewer messages,…The quality is far superior to what we were able to do in the early days.”

The use of AI in medicine has rapidly scaled over the last few years. At the end of 2022, ODSC reported on a number of fascinating programs that are ongoing. Many not only look to expand healthcare access and reduce costs, but many also are working to provide effective treatments for a variety of diseases.

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