Tongue-steered wheelchair helps lick mobility problem

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Tongue-steered wheelchair helps lick mobility problem

http://ca.news./s/afp/070704/health/health_science_disabled_1

Wed Jul 4, 1:24 PM

PARIS (AFP) - Engineers in Britain and the United States have devised

a wheelchair that the disabled can steer using their tongue, New

Scientist says.

The gadget works thanks to a tiny microphone that points inside the

ear canal and is sealed off from outside noise by a plug.

When the wearer moves his tongue, this forces air around the mouth,

causing pressure changes that provide a unique signature of the movement.

The pressure changes are conveyed from the mouth to the ear canal via

the so-called Eustachian tube. The microphone detects the pressure

shifts and transcribes them into electrical signals, which are sent to

a computer that then converts them into commands to steer the wheelchair.

The chair, invented by Ravi Vaidyanathan at the University of

Southampton and Lalit Gupta of Southern Illinois University

Carbondale, is an improvement on present technology, New Scientist says.

Quadriplegics typically have to suck or blow into a straw, or move a

computer cursor to guide the wheelchair, which can be unhygienic or

irritating.

The tongue-guided device is to be launched by a Cleveland, Ohio,

company by the end of the year, according to the report, which appears

in next Saturday's issue of the British science weekly.