The innovation also allows the paralyzed to operate computers

Feb 20, 2012 14:24 GMT  ·  By
Computers can now be controlled via an improved Tongue Drive System, developed at Georgia Tech
   Computers can now be controlled via an improved Tongue Drive System, developed at Georgia Tech

People who've suffered damaging spinal cord injuries, and are currently unable to move their limbs, may benefit extensively from the Tongue Drive System. The device enables them to use a computer or drive an electrical wheelchair, by simply moving their tongue.

The TDS was developed some time ago by experts at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Recently, the group was able to improve on its original design, making it lighter, more capable and less visible.

Granted, the size of a device capable of restoring some degree of mobility in paralyzed people is not that important, but the team is striving for perfection. The most important upgrade was moving the magnets that track the tongue-mounted sensor inside the mouth.

Previously, they were mounted on a support structure that the user wore on their head. This made them look rather awkward at first glance. Now that the magnets are inside the mouth, they are even more precise, and less visible.

In the latest TDS prototype, users wear system components in a dental retainer. Sensors with this structure track the motions of a tiny magnet located on the tongue, and derive sets of coordinates from these motions. The data are then interpreted by a computer, and made to fulfill certain functions.

“By moving the sensors inside the mouth, we have created a Tongue Drive System with increased mechanical stability and comfort that is nearly unnoticeable,” Georgia Tech School of electrical and Computer Engineering associate professor Maysam Ghovanloo explains.

The improved device was introduced to experts attending the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco, on February 20. Funds for the study came from the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

“One of the problems we encountered with the earlier headset was that it could shift on a user’s head and the system would need to be recalibrated,” Ghovanloo said, quoted by Science Blog.

“Because the dental appliance is worn inside the mouth and molded from dental impressions to fit tightly around an individual’s teeth with clasps, it is protected from these types of disturbances,” he concluded.