Marylanders are among the first to use new technology to get their votes back

Ben Watson describes himself as a “social” guy who enjoys telling stories about his years as a musician and video engineer on television, film and at concerts across the country.

In 2022, he was hit hard when he faced surgery to remove a cancerous mass on his vocal cords – and he lost his voice.

“I felt like I was given all these things,” Watson said, “and they were taken away from me.”

Dissatisfied with communicating with a text-to-voice system on his phone and the decades-old technology that made his speech sound animated and robotic, he began thinking about how he could use a 3D printer to create a mechanical voice box that he I had heard of singers using it in their music. But he didn’t have to.

The 63-year-old Baltimore man became one of several patients at Greater Baltimore Medical Center in Towson to be fitted with a new device that allows him to speak more normally. He is also among those giving the device maker feedback on the next version, which will integrate artificial intelligence to mimic or even integrate a person’s real voice.

The device Watson now uses is called AVA Voice and was developed by Australian and New York-based startup Laronix, which aims to fill what it sees as a neglected niche. Thousands of people lose their voices every year due to illness or serious injury, which the company’s researchers found emotionally devastating and practically challenging.

They thought there were no good options if you permanently lost your voice box, called the larynx. This is the air passage in the lungs that holds the vocal cords and allows one to produce sounds from the mouth.

There are apps like the one Watson initially used, but you have to write down every thought.

There’s another battery-powered device Watson tried, called an electrolarynx, which users hold against their neck to produce the vibrating sound. And the most modern option is a voice prosthesis, an implanted valve that speech experts say is a step forward but needs to be cleaned regularly and replaced every few months.

The developers of AVA Voice say they are already working on improving their device as it relies on an external mechanism and the voice can take some getting used to.

This is a thin tube that runs like a flexible straw from the throat valve, which people without a larynx use to breathe, into the mouth. Approximately in the middle, the air passes through a small round membrane that allows the person to regulate the vibrations and therefore the tone of their voice while the facial muscles and lips form words.

According to Ana Minisci, a senior speech-language pathologist at GBMC, every patient at GBMC who tried AVA Voice in the last few months was able to form words quickly, and all but those whose cancer had recurred or had other physical problems, GBMC’s Milton J. Dance, Jr. Head and Neck Center continues to use the device.

She had read about the device and contacted Larinix, which provided devices for testing.

“This allows patients to think and say something rather than having to type it out,” she said. “And people like the sound better than other devices. It’s much more natural.”

These include “hmm,” “uhh,” and even laughter.

“This natural language is the goal,” said Mousa Ahmadi, co-founder and chief operating officer of Laronix.

The device does not require the time-consuming and costly human trials required for drugs and implantable devices. Ahmadi said he expects AVA Voice to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration early next year as a noninvasive device equivalent to an elastic bandage. The company plans to sell it for $82 per month; At least initially, the costs must be borne by the patients themselves.

Another version of the device, already in the works, would incorporate AI to make speech even more suitable for individuals, some of whom could store words and phrases spoken before larynx surgeries in their actual voice.

Ahmadi said the company is in regular contact with AVA Voice users at several medical programs across the country. That includes Watson, who already feels his luck has changed.

“When I woke up from surgery, I didn’t expect to see a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.

After being referred to the GBMC program, he said: “They pointed it out to me and I just started talking. I realized I could work again.”

And after about an hour of chatting and telling stories during an interview, he added with a smile: “Now I’m just talking.”