The celebrated physicist has dramatically outlived the expectations of doctors who said he could have just a few years to live after diagnosing him with motor neurone disease at the age of 21.
He has used a voice synthesizer to communicate ever since he lost his speech in 1985, due to a tracheotomy after suffering a bout of pneumonia.
But the Cambridge University professor is now losing the use of the nerves in his cheek which enable him to speak with the help of a computer and an infrared sensor in his mouth.
Judith Croasdell, his personal assistant, said: "His speech has got slower and slower and on a bad day he can only manage about one word a minute.
"We think it may be because of the deterioration in his check muscle. We are looking to improve the situation and he needs to test out new technology."
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