A flexible patch could help people with voice disorders talk

The human voice, with all its power to mesmerise audiences, woo loved ones and irritate neighbours, is a delicate thing. Each person’s distinctive sound is produced when air from the lungs causes the vocal cords, folds of muscle tissue in the larynx, to vibrate. These vocal cords can easily get damaged by stress, infections, or overuse. It is not just overzealous performers who are at risk of straining their voiceboxes—according to a 2005 study, 30% of the population will experience a voice disorder at some point in their life.

In a study published in the journal Nature Communications this week, a group of bioengineering researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, have put forward an attractive solution. They have designed and tested a soft patch that can be stuck onto a person’s neck, where it will pick up muscle movements and, with the help of machine-learning algorithms that process the signals, translate them into audible speech.