Brain-computer interfaces can enable rapid, intuitive communication for people with paralysis by transforming the cortical activity associated with attempted speech into text on a computer screen. Despite recent advances, communication with brain-computer interfaces has been restricted by extensive training data requirements and inaccurate word output. A man in his 40’s with ALS with tetraparesis and severe dysarthria (ALSFRS-R = 23) was enrolled into the BrainGate2 clinical trial. He underwent surgical implantation of four microelectrode arrays into his left precentral gyrus, which recorded neural activity from 256 intracortical electrodes. We report a speech neuroprosthesis that decoded his neural activity as he attempted to speak in both prompted and unstructured conversational settings. Decoded words were displayed on a screen, then vocalized using text-to-speech software designed to sound like his pre-ALS voice. On the first day of system use, following 30 minutes of attempted speech training data, the neuroprosthesis achieved 99.6% accuracy with a 50-word vocabulary. On the second day, the size of the possible output vocabulary increased to 125,000 words, and, after 1.4 additional hours of training data, the neuroprosthesis achieved 90.2% accuracy. With further training data, the neuroprosthesis sustained 97.5% accuracy beyond eight months after surgical implantation. The participant has used the neuroprosthesis to communicate in self-paced conversations for over 248 hours. In an individual with ALS and severe dysarthria, an intracortical speech neuroprosthesis reached a level of performance suitable to restore naturalistic communication after a brief training period.

中文翻译：

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准确且快速校准的言语神经假体

脑机接口可以通过将与试图讲话相关的皮层活动转化为计算机屏幕上的文本，为瘫痪者提供快速、直观的交流。尽管最近取得了进展，但脑机接口的通信仍受到大量训练数据要求和不准确的文字输出的限制。一名 40 多岁的男性患有 ALS，伴有四肢瘫痪和严重构音障碍 (ALSFRS-R = 23)，他被纳入 BrainGate2 临床试验。他接受了手术，将四个微电极阵列植入到他的左侧中央前回，记录了 256 个皮质内电极的神经活动。我们报告了一种语音神经假体，当他试图在提示和非结构化对话环境中说话时，它可以解码他的神经活动。解码后的单词会显示在屏幕上，然后使用文本转语音软件发出声音，该软件的设计听起来就像他在 ALS 之前的声音。在系统使用的第一天，在尝试进行 30 分钟的语音训练数据后，神经假体在 50 个单词的词汇下达到了 99.6% 的准确率。第二天，可能输出的词汇量增加到 125,000 个单词，并且在额外 1.4 小时的训练数据后，神经假体达到了 90.2% 的准确率。通过进一步的训练数据，神经假体在手术植入后 8 个月内保持了 97.5% 的准确率。参与者使用神经假体进行自定进度对话的时间已超过 248 小时。在患有 ALS 和严重构音障碍的个体中，皮质内言语神经假体在短暂的训练后达到了适合恢复自然交流的性能水平。