New Device Helps Parkinson's Patients

A Purdue University professor has created a new device that helps Parkinson’s patients communicate more clearly.  It’s called the Speech Vive.   

Associate Professor of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Jessica Huber invented  the device that looks and fits like a blue tooth in a patients ear.  When a Parkinson’s patient speaks, it creates noise which makes the patient speak louder and more clearly.  Huber says patients work with a speech pathologist to adjust settings on the device. 

A National Institutes of Health funded study  showed that 90 percent of the study patients who wore the device for eight weeks saw an improvement in their ability to speak clearly.  It will be available in January 2014 at the website www.speechvive.com  at a cost of just over $2,000.