In a move that promises to improve the lives of millions of people around the world who are paralyzed from the neck down, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a unique wireless device that allows users to control a specially-designed wheelchair with their mouths.
“The Tongue Drive System is a novel technology that empowers people with disabilities to achieve maximum independence at home and in the community by enabling them to drive a power wheelchair and control their environment in a smoother and more intuitive way,” Elliot Roth, M.D, chairman of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Feinberg and the medical director of the patient recovery unit at Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, said. “The opportunity to use this high-tech innovation to improve the quality of life among people with mobility limitations is very exciting.”
The new system works using a small magnetic barbell pierced through the user’s tongue that creates a magnetic field inside the mouth. When a user moves their tongue, it alters the magnetic field and triggers a specific command that is picked up by a small headset and relayed wirelessly to a smartphone, computer or iPod. Software then translates the signals and sends them to the wheelchair. The device can also be used to control the cursor on a computer.
Currently, the most popular method for wheelchair control, known as “sip-and-puff,” offers only a limited number of commands and is often slow and cumbersome to operate. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), which translate brain waves from the scalp into electrical signals to direct a motorized wheelchair or computer cursor, require intense and focused concentration and are vulnerable to electromagnetic interference. In comparison, say the developers, the Tongue Drive System is easier to use, safer and more responsive than other assistive technologies on the market.
The Tongue Drive System “is more than just a wheelchair control,” says Jason Disanto, a device tester who was left paralyzed from the neck down after a 2009 diving accident. “It’s an independence system.”
