Inner Ear Implants: Cure for Stammerers

Heidi King who is 24-years-old is one among the first British patients to volunteer for the treatment in New York. In this treatment a special device is placed to help her overcome stammering.

The British Stammering Association (BSA) chief executive Norbert Lieckfeldt said the device would be fitted in her inner ear. It mimics the user's voice. It is proved by research that stammerers are helped by speaking in unison with others. It is also showed that singing or saying the same words together can help people stop stammering.

The phenomenon the so-called choral effect was first identified in the 1950s. The device is called SpeechEasy. It is not available in the UK and is not funded by the National Health Service. Mr Lieckfeldt said that this device though it works quite well for a lot of people who stammer, it doesn't work for all of them.

She also said that more research is to be done to understand the mechanism and working of the device. A spokesman for SpeechEasy said several thousand people in the USA had had the devices fitted and experiencing a new life.