Tongue Drive System Enables Wheelchair Control

A tiny magnet embedded in a tongue through piercing, implantation or adhesion has been shown by a Georgia Institute of Technology team of researchers to be capable of acting as a controller for the user to direct the operation of electromechanical devices such as wheelchairs. The Georgia Tech Bionics Lab describes their Tongue Drive System in an article published online. They have also published a paper in Science Translational Medicine.

They cite the high level of motor control and manipulation capabilities inherent in the tongue, that it is seldom affected by spinal injuries, and that it is usually one of the last affected in most neuromuscular degenerative disorders. An array of magnetic sensors trace the movements of the tongue, feeding positional data to an external controller unit which sends signals controlling the wheelchair or other device.

Maysam Ghovanloo, PhD, director of the Georgia Tech Bionics Lab, told the BBC that "[his group is] tapping into the inherent capabilities of the tongue, it is such an amazing part of the body," Already the Tongue Drive System is beating conventional "sip-and-puff" wheelchair control systems. Ghovanloo continued, "People will be able to do more and do more things more effectively."

The trials were conducted with 34 subjects, 23 able-bodied persons and 11 paraplegics. Six tongue positions in the mouth were programmed to control a wheelchair or a computer. The paraplegics were, on average, able to perform tasks with the same level of accuracy as with other assistive technologies, but three times faster.

In the BBC article, Mark Bacon, director of research at Spinal Research, says, "While this may only be beneficial to those with the profoundest motor dysfunction, being able to capture the tongue's complex range of motion to command other assistive devices seems a valuable avenue to explore. After all, the tongue is capable of the most exquisite commands through the act of speech so why not use that range of motion to command assistive devices more discretely."