New digital iTalkBetter app significantly improves speech in stroke patients

Aphasia is a language disorder caused by some form of brain damage, including stroke

Researchers from the Neurotherapeutics Group at University College London’s Queen Square Institute of Neurology have developed a new digital app that significantly improves speech in stroke patients.

Supported by Wellcome and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the iTalkBetter app provides speech therapy for people living with aphasia, a language disorder.

Caused by some form of brain damage, including stroke, severe head injury and brain tumours, aphasia can lead to difficulties with speech or language.

The NHS currently provides around 12 hours of speech and language therapy, with further face-to-face therapy available via some charities or privately. However, most aphasia patients are undertreated with therapy.

The new app offers practice for over 200 commonly used words, games to maintain engagement and an integrated speech recogniser to analyse speech in real time to give users feedback.

Published in eClinicalMedicine, a phase 2 clinical trial involving 27 patients living with aphasia caused by stroke evaluated the iTalkBetter app between September 2020 and March 2022.

After six weeks of 90 minutes per day, the study found that it significantly improved patients’ ability to name items by 13% for the 200 commonly used words and spontaneous speech also significantly improved.

Additionally, researchers used structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to observe patients’ brains when using the app.

They found that brain regions that were related to language perception, production and control increased in volume after using the digital app.

Alex Leff, NIHR research professor, UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, said: “App delivered therapy is one solution to this problem.”

“This is the first randomised controlled trial of an app designed to improve speaking that transfers to a naturalistic speaking task and show an effect on connected speech.”

As a result, iTalkBetter will soon be rolled out as an app available for all suitable patients to use.