Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Jacob, Oshin R.
• Naveen, Sundar G.
• Fernandes, Steven Lawrence
• Peter, J. Dinesh
• Thomaz, Carlos Eduardo

Titel

An AAC Communication Device for Patients with Total Paralysis

Ist Teil von

• Advances in Computerized Analysis in Clinical and Medical Imaging, 2020, p.97-104

Auflage

1

Ort / Verlag

United Kingdom: Routledge

Erscheinungsjahr

2020

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Around ten crore people in the world suffer from developmental disorders which is a major social concern. Developmental disorders include cerebral palsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and stroke. Communication for such people is a difficult task, both physically and psychologically. Alternative and augmentative communication devices today are less economical, which makes the affected rural patients the main sufferers. Thus, a simple blow-enabled communication system is developed taking into account the rural setting of the patient, which is both economical and user-friendly. The device allows the patient to communicate his/her basic needs within a span of seconds, thus making patient monitoring easy for the caretaker. The device consists of a Hall effect sensor connected to a tube and placed in the mouth of the patient. The patient blows into this tube to select predefined sentences which are recorded in the device to communicate. These recorded sentences convey the basic needs of the patient. The caretaker has the option to change these sentences or reorder the default recording based on the patient's condition. The device was tested on seven patients and the results show that the minimum air flow rate required by a patient to communicate is 2 L/min and the time period required to select the desired sentence to be conveyed is a minimum of 40 ms. This chapter discusses a device that uses blow from the patient to select predefined sentences on the device, which then gets communicated to the caretaker as speech. Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) is the term used to define various ways of communication other than speech, especially used by people with physical impairments. Cheaper devices like communication boards show inefficiency among tetraplegic patients. They range from brain computer interfaces, eyetrackers, and iPad apps which are costly to more affordable communication boards. The device requires the patient to blow into a plastic tube, which activates the Hall effect sensor to sense the blow. A tiny fan is placed near the Hall effect sensor, thereby causing electric impulses to be produced from low air pressure given by the patient. An alternative and augmentative communication device which is highly economical and user-friendly is developed to help people suffering from total paralysis communicate through subtle blows given by patient into a plastic tube.