Tarakash Josh! : A website for Youth!

Can you imagine it! You could be able to control the gadgets simply by moving your tongue.

A team of US engineers have developed a novel system which allows individuals with disabilities to operate a computer control a powered wheelchair and interact with their environments simply by moving their tongues.

“This device could revolutionise the field of assistive technologies by helping individuals with severe disabilities – such as those with high-level spinal cord injuries – return to rich, active, independent and productive lives,” said Maysam Ghovanloo, an assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who developed the system with graduate student Xueliang Huo.

To operate the Tongue Drive system, a small magnet – the size of a grain of rice – is attached to an individual’s tongue through piercing, or tissue adhesive. This magnet allows tongue motion to direct the movement of a cursor across a computer screen or a powered wheelchair around a room.

A headset with magnetic field sensors detects the movements of the magnet on the tongue, and transmits the signals wirelessly to a portable computer, which can be carried on the user’s clothing or wheelchair – all in real time.

“We chose the tongue to operate the system because unlike hands and feet, which are controlled by the brain through the spinal cord, the tongue is directly connected to the brain by a cranial nerve that generally escapes damage in severe spinal cord injuries or neuromuscular diseases,” said Ghovanloo. “Tongue movements are also fast, accurate and do not require much thinking, concentration or effort.”