TECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Gut-Level Speech
An inside glimpse at what's new in emerging technologies
At present, people with damaged or diseased vocal cords have only one
practical choice for restoring their speech facility — surgical implantation
of
a throat voice box. The medical drawbacks to this are numerous. There
are the psychological and social aspects, too. As Mark Twain said of
a woman with a badly fitting glass eye, adults don't mind, but it does
tend to unsettle the children.
Another choice may soon be available. The BV ("Bowel Vowels") Synthesizing Transducer is an electro-acoustic device that is attached, via laparoscopic surgery, to the outside of the colon. It is small (2 cm. x 2 cm. x 1 cm) and weighs less than an ounce.
The mechanism consists of a transducer, which picks up sounds from the bowel, an electrochemical power generator, and a microprocessor that the patient can learn to control via a nerve ganglion. The microprocessor is used to modulate the gut sounds and convert them into speech. It produces vowel sounds that are clear and understandable. The transducer takes advantage of natural resonance properties to cause the gut itself to amplify the sounds. The system is poor at producing consonant sounds.
Despite the limitations, the speech that emerges sounds surprisingly natural. Modulated-gut speech is plainly and clearly discernable to anyone who places an ear against the speaker's lower abdomen.
The BV Synthesizing Transducer was invented by Dr. Gregory Mott of Xorex Acoustic Imaging Systems in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Xorex is currently waiting FDA approval to begin large scale in-patient testing.
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