Many individuals with Motor Neurone Disease and other devastating conditions such as stroke, MS and Parkinson's disease lose their voice. Not being able to speak in one's own voice leaves many patients feeling frustrated, entrapped and isolated. Current provision of communication aids is not ideal as patients complain about the impersonal and robotic nature of such devices.

We can change this with your help. You can make a difference by providing a short recording of your voice.

This will be part of a "bank" that will then be used to generate individual bespoke voices that are as close as possible to the patients. We do this by using specialised in-house software that mixes many different voices including any available from the patient to create an individual natural voice as close as possible to the patient. Using our technology no two voices are ever the same and therefore your voice remains exclusive to you – only bits of it that cannot be recognised are ever used in the final "patient voice".

To help give patients a personalised voice we are currently looking for 150 healthy volunteers of all ages. Voice recording takes around an hour at our studios in George Square, Edinburgh.

For more information, including details of how to make an appointment at the University of Edinburgh's Speech and Technology Centre, please email info@smart-mnd.org.