Handicaps can now Tongue Drive around
Dr. Maysam Ghovanloo, holding the steering magnet
An Iranian researcher has developed a new wheelchair which allows handicaps to move around independently only by moving their tongues.
The Tongue Drive may revolutionize the field of assistive technologies by helping severely disabled individuals, such as those with high-level spinal cord injuries, to return to active, independent and productive lives and interact with the environment, said Maysam Ghovanloo, the inventor of the device.
The Georgia Institute of Technology researcher claimed that a small magnet simply implanted into the tongue allows the tongue's movement to direct a cursor across a computer screen or a powered wheelchair around a room. Thus having control over ones tongue movement is the only requisite for using this device.
Ghovanloo added that on the contrary to hands and feet which are controlled by the brain through the spinal cord, a cranial nerve directly connects the tongue to the brain; therefore tongue movements usually remains intact in severe spinal cord injuries or neuromuscular diseases.
He also maintained that tongue movements are fast, accurate and do not require much thinking, concentration or effort.
The 'Tongue Drive' system has premiered at the 2008 Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. The findings of the study will be published in the upcoming issue of the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development.
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