Giving stroke victims a voice

When lake resident Ed Buchholz came out of retirement, it was for a good cause. He and childhood friend Dan O'Brien, teamed up to start their own company, O'Brien Technologies, to help another friend who was left unable to speak after suffering a stroke.

After his stroke, their friend, a man named Vahan who lives in New Jersey, suffered from aphasia, a disorder that leaves victims unable to speak or, in some cases, understand language because of damage to a particular area in the brain.

"A majority of people with aphasia do not regain the ability to speak even though their mental functions are fine," said Buchholz.

According to the O'Brien Technologies Web site, it's estimated that one million people are currently suffering from aphasia in the United States. That number is growing to include 100,000 new people annually.

To give their friend back some of the freedom that he had before his stroke, O'Brien got a patent and approached Buchholz with his idea. Similar to an iPod which can store tens of thousands of songs, O'Brien developed a hand-held speech-generating device that could be used to communicate with others through a series of phrases that are categorized in menus and sub-menus.

According to the O'Brien Technologies Web site, one of those speech generating devices is called the Survivor Speech Companion System. The system includes two devices -- one for the person who's suffered a stroke, also referred to as the survivor, and one for the survivor's companion or caregiver.

It works like this: "The main touch screen includes a scrollable list of categories and corresponding pictures. As the survivor scrolls through and selects from the categorized list, each topic is spoken. When the user finds the desired topic, he simply taps the screen and a sub-list of messages with corresponding pictures appears.

The user then scrolls up or down to select the item he wants to 'say,' and taps his finger. The screen then goes to an enlarged picture and displays the words to be spoken. An additional tap confirms the message and causes the survivor unit to audibly speak."

The survivor-companion devices are connected using Bluetooth or infrared technology which allows caregivers to have a conversation with their charges.

According to the company's Web site: "The caregiver selects a customized, pre-programmed question on the companion unit, which then automatically directs the survivor unit to the appropriate screen where the survivor can select their response. For example, if the caregiver's question is 'What would you like for lunch,' the survivor unit will switch to the survivor's lunch menu."

Buchholz said his company's product isn't designed to help stroke survivors speak again. Instead, it's to give them back the freedom to communicate with others using this technology.

"Our approach was completely different," said Buchholz. "Other companies were attempting to help survivors recover their speech. We were aimed at them probably not recovering their speech. Instead, we aimed at helping people talk to each other through the device."

The Survivor Speech Companion System can be costly -- around $7,000 -- but that expense can be reimbursed by Medicare and private insurance plans, said Buchholz.

So far, O'Brien Technologies has spent upwards of $750,000 in product development and is in its 23rd version of software development, added Buchholz. The company plans to expand into other countries and develop software for more than a dozen other languages.

And while the company is based in Roanoke, Buchholz said he and O'Brien, who lives in Gainesville, Va., work primarily from their homes with employees working in four states throughout the mid-Atlantic.

The response the duo has received from speech language pathologists and other healthcare professionals has been extremely positive.

"Early on, the encouragement we got was they thought what we were doing was a noble venture," said Buchholz.

And while he's not exactly kicking back with nothing to do during his golden years, Buchholz said he still finds time to play golf with friends and travel with his wife, Jean, who, along with Dan's wife, Ellen, has been instrumental in helping the two friends launch O'Brien Technologies.

For more information about speech-generating devices and O'Brien Technologies, visit www.orbrientechnologies.com.