Communication Method That Can Be Used With Vegetative Patients

The researchers, who published details of their work in The Lancet, said they had made measurements of electrical pulses in the brain to determine whether a patient was conscious or not.

The EEG method does not cause the patient pain and works by means of electrodes attached to the head.

The researchers carried out a trial which involved 16 patients at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge and the University Hospital of Liege in Belgium.

Every one of the patients involved were diagnosed as being in a vegetative state, where they were not aware of themselves or the world around them.

The patients were told to think about moving their toes or right hand. The researchers found that three of the patients could follow the instructions repeatedly.

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