“There are many reports (New York Times, New Scientist, De Volkskrant) about something new in my field of research: Prof. Nick Ramsey and his team (UMC Utrecht) were able to implant electrodes in the head of Hanneke de Bruijne, a woman with ALS. She has been successfully using her brain activity to operate her computer and assistive technology with it. The research takes place in her home and can be considered the first successful Brain-Computer Interface at home with a ECoG implant. I was present during the informed consent as an independent observer to verify that this woman consented to the study. And I was very convinced that Hanneke de Bruijne knew what she was doing.
But enthusiastic as I am… my research also shows that high tech is not everything and human contact and stigma is still difficult for this group of people.”
> Read more about the concerns of Nijboer and patients with locked-in-syndrom in “Een spraakcomputer lost niet alle problemen op” (Dutch).