Control Bionics: A New Paradigm in AAC for the Physically Impaired

For people experiencing neuro-muscular disorders such as MND, ALS, spinal muscular atrophy, cerebral palsy, and spinal cord injury, the body can restrict the mind’s ability to communicate, limiting its interaction with the world around it. World-famous theoretical physicist and author Stephen Hawking had a particularly debilitating case of MND, forcing him into a wheelchair for the majority of his adult life. Hawking did not let this stop him and over the years tried many different way of accessing written and spoken communication, including eye gaze, to help him learn and convey his research to the rest of the world. However, as helpful as it was, the type of solution he leveraged—along with its other variants available in the market— was still limited in its capabilities, causing fatigue and strain in most patients desperate for alternative or improved solutions. Little was it known that the answer was secretly being pondered by Mr. Peter Shann Ford, the former CNN journalist and anchor, who was inspired by the potential to help free one of the world’s great minds, Stephen Hawking.

In 1999, Peter identified that the patients’ damaged muscles still emitted small electrical signals that could be used to reliably control basic computer functions. He started looking into electromyography (EMG), a technique to measure muscle response or electrical activity in response to a nerve’s stimulation of the muscle. In the case of individuals experiencing MND and similar conditions, an application of this EMG phenomenon shined a ray of new hope in how they could communicate and interact with the world around them. And with that, Control Bionics was born. Today, the medical equipment manufacturer develops innovative augmentative communication and control devices based on EMG for people with speech and movement disabilities. “Our entry into the assistive technology industry is based on our passion to serve those on the far end of the disability spectrum and the desire to drive the industry forward,” states Rob Wong, CEO of Control Bionics.

The company’s flagship device, the NeuroNode, is the world’s leading wearable EMG control switch, allowing users to use EMG for spatial control to increase communication and speed significantly. The solution works by measuring activities from the muscles—with current as feeble as 0.0000001 volts. This means that it can cater to people who have conditions like ALS with virtually no physical muscle movement on their body. In addition, it can easily register a signal with often no physical movement being seen of the muscle itself. With it, Control Bionics is able to combine gaze technology with the NeuroNode device to provide faster speed and ease of use.