Georgia Tech Researchers Announce New Tongue-Controlled Mobile Device

In recognition of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivered a statement about working towards a more inclusive society.  On December 3, 2013, Ki-moon announced the new Accessibility Centre at UN Headquarters in New York.  According to Ki-moon there are currently more than one billion people living with disabilities worldwide.

Researchers from Georgia Tech have developed a new wireless device that gives people who use motorized wheelchairs more independence.  The new device known as the Tongue Drive System is considered to be more efficient than the “sip-and-puff” wheelchair model.  The tongue-directed wheelchair uses a headset that translates the movements from a magnet that is embedded in a user’s tongue.  The magnet sends information to a program on a cell phone or computer which operates the movement of the wheelchair.
By moving their tongues to the left or right, paralyzed patients can move their motorized wheelchairs, a mouse cursor, turn lights or a TV set on and off, and adjust the thermostat in their home.  A patient can control the speed of their wheelchair when they tap their tongue, quickly or slowly, against their cheek.  When patients move their tongues this motion is scanned by four small sensors that are on a headset. Researchers expect the device to eventually cost between $6,000 and $8,000.
“This is another example of how the field of rehab engineering and assistive devices is continuously evolving and benefiting from incorporating the emerging new technologies,” says Dr. Daofen Chen, program director at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Jason DiSanto, who works as an electrical engineer in Atlanta, became paralyzed below his shoulders after a diving accident four years ago.  DiSanto is one of 11 disabled patients who tested the tongue-directed wheelchair.  In addition to the 11 disabled patients, 23 non-disabled patients tested the new technology.  “The more functionality I have from different devices, the less dependent I am on people to do those tasks for me, so I gain that sense of independence I lost due to my injury,” DiSanto says in a November 27, 2013 USA Today article by Karen Weintraub.
Over 250,000 Americans have some form of mobility limitation.  The new tongue-directed technology has the potential to improve the quality of life for millions of people worldwide that have mobility limitations.

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