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Implanted Brain Device Gives ALS Patient Digital Voice, 183k Sentences

6/18/2026

Summary

Story summary

In 2023, researchers implanted a speech-controlling brain device in Casey Harrell, a 47-year-old ALS patient, giving him a digital voice.
He has produced over 183,000 sentences (?2 million words) in 3,800 hours, typing at 56 words per minute with 92 percent accuracy.
The eye-gaze-tracked mobile system that lets him email, browse and work full-time also records privacy-mode data, which will aid future brain-computer interface therapies as the largest single-person recording set.

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Story summary

In 2023, researchers implanted a speech-controlling brain device in Casey Harrell, a 47-year-old ALS patient, giving him a digital voice.
He has produced over 183,000 sentences (?2 million words) in 3,800 hours, typing at 56 words per minute with 92 percent accuracy.
The eye-gaze-tracked mobile system that lets him email, browse and work full-time also records privacy-mode data, which will aid future brain-computer interface therapies as the largest single-person recording set.