Neural Noise

Neural Speech Inc.

2 min read

  • Neural Speech Inc. is developing speech restoration technology using neurotrophic electrodes.1
  • The company is cited in Open Access Government as a BCI and speech-prosthesis relevant venture with direct relevance to neuroprosthetics.1 1

Weekly enrichment (2026-07-20)

  • Neural Speech Inc. (incorporated in Georgia, USA) is led by founder, CEO, and Chief Scientist Dr. Philip Kennedy, a neurologist whose brain-computer interface work spans over 35 years and who has performed six human neurotrophic-electrode implants.2 3
  • The company’s goal is restoring conversational speech for people in the locked-in state (paralyzed and mute), typically the result of brainstem stroke or ALS, by implanting an electrode into the speech motor cortex that controls the lips, tongue, cheeks, and larynx.2
  • The Neurotrophic Electrode is a hollow glass cone coated with Matrigel and nerve growth factor; nearby cortical neurons grow axons/neurites into its ~2 mm hollow tip, and insulated gold wires record the ingrown neural connections.2 4
  • Reported longevity in humans is stable signaling for over a decade in one subject and four years each in two others; histological analysis found no brain scarring even after 13 years of implantation until the participant’s death.2 3
  • Individual axonal spikes are identified after roughly three months of neural ingrowth and do not need to be re-identified over subsequent years, distinguishing the approach from metal-tipped electrodes that degrade and scar over time.5
  • The clinical history includes end-stage ALS patient MH (first self-controlled neural-signal implant, 1996), locked-in stroke patient JR (two electrodes, 1998, first computer-spelled synthetic speech), and locked-in patient ER (implanted December 2004 with FDA IDE G960032).6
  • Recorded signals are decoded with machine-learning/AI algorithms into speech, and in an earlier vowel-synthesis demonstration the average delay from neural firing to synthesizer output was about 50 ms, comparable to an intact biological pathway; personalized restoration requires several weeks of training.2 4
  • The current-generation device is the Neuronexus Neurotrophic Electrode, and electrodes can be obtained for research through Neural Signals Inc. or Neuronexus.2 5

Footnotes

  1. https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMif0FVX3lxTE9JOWE2cWRZOHJNUG15QmpacmhKam9VX0p4RDR4NGk4SmtjRU9BdHRuWHFjOTdPdFJqMXlMRnBzLVM3bTBmVFU4UklXc2NVUmFpcXByZWstcDBZdW41U1pwNnl5Y01zam9MZXlkRzJRaE1Lc2k1d3BKNEpPTHVqOFU?oc=5 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/stakeholder/neural-speech-inc/205208/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  3. https://www.scientia.global/dr-philip-kennedy-the-quest-for-lifetime-neural-interfaces-a-review-of-electrode-technologies/ ↩ ↩2

  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurotrophic_electrode ↩ ↩2

  5. https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/article/the-ethics-of-brain-interfacing-using-implantable-electrodes/205937/ ↩ ↩2

  6. https://neuralspeech.net/ ↩

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