"Revolutionary" Bath research hopes to help sufferers of motor neurone disease
It's thought the Earswitch device could help "locked-in" people communicate
Researchers at the University of Bath are working on a device that could help people with serious neurological conditions to communicate.
The device, which they have labelled "revolutionary", would allow people with conditions like Motor Neurone Disease (MND) to communicate using a tiny muscle in the ear.
They are calling the device "Earswitch"; it allows people to use the tensor tympani muscle in their ear to control a keyboard, like the one used by the late Professor Stephen Hawking.
A prototype has been developed by a team from the university working alongside GP Doctor Nick Gompertz.
It is believed that control of the tensor tympani muscle might be preserved in people "locked-in" because of a stroke or late stage MND.
That is important because existing devices like this can become unusable as neurological conditions like MND worsen over time.
Professor Hawking's device for example was controlled by the Professor twitching a muscle in his cheek.
As such, by offering an alternative, Earswitch might offer a breakthrough for individuals with the most severe communications restrictions.
Dr Gompertz explains: “When I was a medical student, I witnessed people losing the ability to use keyboards that they relied on to communicate.
"I have always been aware of the ability to tense a muscle in my ear, and so wondered if it could be used to control these communication devices.
“Years later, after watching a documentary about a talented, non-verbal 13-year-old who had written a book with just his eyes by looking at a physical spelling board, I tried again and successfully discovered how to achieve this.
“Many people won’t have ever noticed this muscle in their ears.
"But when they are asked to concentrate when they yawn they may notice the muscle makes it more difficult to hear, which may also cause a fullness or rumbling sensation in their ears.
“Our current working prototype is a miniature camera held in a silicone ear-piece," he continues.
"The camera picks up movement of the eardrum when the person intentionally tenses the middle ear muscle.
"This movement is detected by the computer and controls an on-screen keyboard.
"The keyboard scans sequentially through rows of letters, then groups of letters, allowing single letters to be selected by a simple ‘ear-click’.”
Dr Gompertz adds that the whole idea was originally dreamt up to help people communicate, but it could be used in other ways outside of helping people with neurological conditions.
He suggests for example, the it could be used for answering phone calls via headphones or pods while on the move.
Alongside the development of the technology, which drew on expertise in health sciences and electronic and electrical engineering at Bath, the team behind Earswitch also want to understand more about people’s ability to control their tensor tympani muscle, and whether it’s possible to train people to do so.
At the moment very little is known about what proportion of the population can voluntarily move this muscle and so the team needs both healthy people and those with neurological conditions to complete a short, 5-minute online survey to help them assess how people could benefit from Earswitch.
If you do not have a neurological condition you can complete the survey here.
If you do have a neurological condition then there is another one for you here.
One of the lead researchers, Dr Dario Cazzola from the University’s Department for Health adds: “We are delighted to help Nick understand more about how many people can use this tiny hidden muscle in the ear and to learn more about the different ways to train people.
"With our electronic and electrical engineering experts, we’re also helping Nick further develop how the Earswitch can be attached and, in the future, miniaturised.
“This is a great example of how we can help translate Nick’s blue-sky thinking into a truly innovative project with real-world application.
"We hope this work can make a significant difference to the lives of many people with neurological conditions in the UK and around the world.”