Scientists have created a device that converts sniffs into electrical signals.
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WASHINGTON: Severely disabled people may soon be able to use their noses to write, drive a wheelchair or surf the Internet, thanks to a device developed and tested by doctors in Israel.
The device harnesses sniffing - or breathing in and out through the nose - which involves the soft palate on the roof of the mouth, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
The soft palate is controlled by cranial nerves which are "always very well conserved following severe injury," lead author, Noam Sobel from the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel, said.
"That's why eye blinks can be used to communicate with severely injured people - because eye blinks are also controlled by cranial nerves," Sobel said.
Sniffs converted into signals
Sobel worked with other scientists from the Weizmann Institute and Tel Aviv University to develop a way to convert sniffs - which the device measures as nasal pressure - into electrical signals.
The device sits at the opening of the nostrils and is connected to a pressure sensor. It consists of a small cannula, like the tubes used in hospitals to deliver oxygen to patients.
Able-bodied individuals tested the device, and quickly learned to play computer games and write sentences by sniffing.
Connecting paralysed patients with family
Encouraged by the results in the healthy trial participants, the researchers decided to test their device on quadriplegics and 'locked-in' individuals - people who are paralysed but whose mental faculties remain intact.
One, a woman who became locked-in following a stroke around seven months earlier, had to be retaught how to sniff.
But within three weeks, she was able to use the sniff-controller to write. She "started writing with this device at once, initially answering questions and after a few days generated her first post-stroke meaningful self-initiated communication that entailed a profound, personal message to her family," the study says.
