University of Bari, Italy.
Res Dev Disabil. 2013 Oct;34(10):3190-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2013.06.021. Epub 2013 Jul 24.
Post-coma individuals emerging from a minimally conscious state with multiple disabilities may enjoy contact with relevant partners (e.g., family members and friends), but may not have easy access to them. These two single-case studies assessed whether those individuals could make contact with partners through computer-aided telephone technology and enjoy such contact. The technology involved a computer system with special software, a global system for mobile communication modem (GSM), and microswitch devices. In Study I, the computer system presented a 23-year-old man the names of the partners that he could contact, one at a time, automatically. Together with each partner's name, the system also presented the voice of the partner asking the man whether he wanted to call him or her. The man could (a) place a call to that partner by activating a camera-based microswitch through mouth movements or (b) bypass that partner and wait for the next one to be presented. In Study II, the system presented a 36-year-old man the partners' names only after he had activated his wobble microswitch with a hand movement. The man could place a call or bypass a partner as in Study I. The results showed that both men (a) were able to contact relevant partners through the technology, (b) seemed to enjoy their telephone-mediated communication contacts with the partners, and (c) showed preferences among the partners. Implications of the findings are discussed.
从最小意识状态中苏醒且伴有多重残疾的昏迷后个体可能会与相关伙伴（例如，家庭成员和朋友）保持联系，但可能无法轻易与他们接触。这两项单案例研究评估了这些个体是否可以通过计算机辅助电话技术与伙伴进行联系并享受这种联系。该技术涉及具有特殊软件的计算机系统、全球移动通信系统 (GSM) 调制解调器和微开关设备。在研究 I 中，计算机系统会向 23 岁的男子自动呈现一次一个可以联系的伙伴的名字。系统还会伴随每个伙伴的名字呈现伙伴的声音，询问男子是否想打电话给他或她。男子可以 (a) 通过口腔运动激活基于摄像头的微开关来呼叫该伙伴，或 (b) 绕过该伙伴并等待下一个伙伴的名字呈现。在研究 II 中，该系统仅在男子通过手部运动激活其晃动微开关后才会向男子呈现伙伴的名字。男子可以像在研究 I 中那样进行呼叫或绕过伙伴。结果表明，这两名男子 (a) 都能够通过该技术联系到相关伙伴，(b) 似乎很享受他们通过电话进行的与伙伴的交流联系，以及 (c) 在伙伴中表现出了偏好。讨论了研究结果的含义。
