THURSDAY, July 3 (HealthDay News) -- A tongue drive system that
enables severely disabled people to operate powered wheelchairs and
to perform other tasks has been developed by engineers at the
Georgia Institute of Technology.
"This device could revolutionize the field of assistive
technologies by helping individuals with severe disabilities, such
as those with high-level spinal cord injuries, return to rich,
active, independent and productive lives," Maysam Ghovanloo, an
assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, said in a prepared statement.
Users of the Tongue Drive system have a small magnet (the size
of a grain of rice) attached to their tongue by implantation,
piercing or tissue adhesive. The movement of the magnetic tracer
attached to the tongue is detected by magnetic field sensors
mounted on a headset outside the mouth or on an orthodontic brace
inside the mouth. This movement data is transmitted to a portable
computer carried on the user's clothing or wheelchair.
"We chose the tongue to operate the system, because unlike hands
and feet, which are controlled by the brain through the spinal
cord, the tongue is directly connected to the brain by a cranial
nerve that generally escapes damage in severe spinal cord injuries
or neuromuscular diseases," Ghovanloo said. "Tongue movements are
also fast, accurate and do not require much thinking, concentration
or effort."
The system can be programmed to recognize a user's specific
tongue movements based on their abilities, oral anatomy, personal
preferences and lifestyles.
"An individual could potentially train our system to recognize
touching each tooth as a different command. The ability to train
our system with as many commands as an individual can comfortably
remember is a significant advantage over the common sip-n-puff
device that acts as a simple switch controlled by sucking or
blowing through a straw," Ghovanloo said.
The Tongue Drive system was described June 29 at the annual
conference of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive
Technology Society of North America, in Washington, D.C. An article
about the system was expected to be published in an upcoming issue
of the
Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development.
More information
The Alliance for Technology Access has more about
assistive devices.
