Getting around after a catastrophic spinal cord injury has
gotten easier thanks to head-mounted steering systems, but there
are plenty of problems inherent in those systems. Researchers at
Georgia Tech have figured out a way to make mouth-controlled
wheelchair navigation much easier and more effective by mounting
the system inside the driver’s mouth. The intraoral Tongue Drive
System consists of a retainer worn on the roof of the mouth and
a tongue stud outfitted with a magnet. The retainer has magnetic
field sensors at each corner to detect the movement of the
magnetized tongue stud and translate the tongue movements
through an iPhone app and into movements of the user’s
wheelchair. This unique system could take the place of joystick
controls and the simple sip-and-puff design that allows
paraplegics to drive by sucking or blowing on a straw. The
system is able to learn new commands and is highly sensitive,
meaning that paralyzed users can look forward to a higher level
of control over their movements than e